A Book of Truth
by VAMPtastic1901
Summary: What happens when Alice comes across the Twilight Saga books in a vision, buys them, and makes everybody read them? Find out here! R&R!
1. Chapter 1

_**Okay, so I've been obsessed with this plot recently so I thought I'd try my hand at it. Please tell me what you think and if I should go on… Thanks!**_

_**Disclaimer: **_

"_**Say it." **_

_***silence***_

"_**Out loud."**_

"_**NO! You can't make me." *sticks out tongue childishly at Edward.***_

"_**Say it." *looks into eyes and dazzles***_

"_**Ughh fine. I don't own Twilight, SM does!" *runs away crying while Edward smirks***_

_**ON WITH IT….**_

BPOV

We were all sitting in the Cullen's living room watching Titanic. '_We' _being me, Edward, Rose, Emmett, Carlisle, and Esme. Alice and Jasper went to the mall. We were just to the part where the ship starts to sink when Alice and Jasper came into the room.

"Guess what?!Guess what?!Guess what?!" Alice squealed excitedly.

"You've finally gotten over your shopping addiction?!" I asked with fake enthusiasm. She glared back as everyone laughed.

"Ha-ha you're _so_ funny." She said sarcastically. "No, but I found these four books and I think we should read them. I won't say why but I will say I see no danger coming from it." She informed. We all looked to Jasper. He shrugged.

"I don't know a thing." He said. So we looked to Edward.

"She's blocking me." He said, glaring at her.

"Oh be quiet, let's just read the books." She said impatiently. We all agreed. "I think Bella should read these. You'll find out why later."

"Okay…" I said confusedly as she handed me the first book. "Let's Begin. It's called Twilight."

"Strange name." Edward mused. We all nodded in agreement.

"Anyway…" I said. And then I continued reading.

**Preface:**

**I'd never given much thought to how I would die-though I'd had reason enough in the last few months-but even**

**If I had, I would not have imagined it like this. I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back **

**at me.**

"I wonder who this 'Hunter' person is?" Emmett said.

"Well, shall we continue on and find out?" Carlisle asked him. He nodded.

**Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to**

**count for something.**

"This person must really love them, if they are willing to die for them and all." Edward mused.

**I knew that if I'd never gone to Forks,**

"FORKS?" Everyone shouted, besides Alice, simultaneously, shocked. Instead, she giggled.

**I wouldn't be facing death now. But terrified as I was, I couldn't bring **

**myself to regret the decision. When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of you expectations, it's not **

**reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end. The hunter smiled in a friendly way as he sauntered forward to**

**kill me.**

"Well, that's very…interesting." Jasper concluded.

"Very interesting, indeed." Added Edward as we all agreed.

"Well, should we read the next chapter?" Esme asked.

"Sure"

"Yeah!"

"Of course." Our agreements echoed throughout the room.

So I turned the page, and began to read….

_**A/N: SOOO….What do u think?! Was it good, bad?**_

_**Any suggestions? If you suggest something or even a comment that you think somebody should make at some point throughout the book, I will use it and add your name in that chapter! Okay? Review….The green button calls to you………………………..**_

_**--- VAMPtastic1901**_


	2. IMPORTANT! MUST READ D

**VERY IMPORTANT! **

**Sorry guys, I know you hate Authors Notes but I PROMISE not to do them often!**

**Just so everyone knows, this Is PRE-New Moon! **

**So everything in Twilight HAS happened but nothing in NM, EC, or BD has! So their in for a shock! Lol**

**Bella is obviously still human now.**

**SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION!**

**Next chapter will be up shortly, it's on my other computer though so I cant do it right now! But SHORTLY!**

**I also want to thank everyone who reviewed, favorite, and alerted:**

**Flame05 (my very FIRST reviewer!)**

**Kiragirl193**

**Aralys**

**NightRose131**

**Nissa-Cullen**

**Emeraldsunshine297**

**Kab16**

**Mythicalcreatures428**

**Help-me-think-of-a-name**

**Drama-books-theater21**

**Miss Ginny Granger**

**Kiszablelipz**

**And last but not least, TwilightMonkey!**

**THANK U ALL SOO MUCH!!!**

**Keep reading and reviewing pleeease!**

**--VAMPtastic1901**


	3. 3 Chapter 1: First Sight

**IMPORTANT: IF U READ THE AUTHORS NOTE, U ALREADY NO THIS BUT IF U DIDN'T; THIS IS **_**PRE-NM**_**, KK?**

_**Thanks for the reviews! **_

_**SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO Flame05 FOR BEING MY VERY FIRST REVEIWER! *cue confetti and balloons falling randomly out of no where* **_

_**THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO HE(R)! THANK YOU Flame05! =D**_

_**Here's the next chapter. ENJOY!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. *sob sob!***_

BPOV

"**Chapter One – First Sight" **I read.

**My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favorite shirt-sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka. In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United Sates of America.**

"Got that right." Emmett said. Everyone laughed and agreed.

**It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. It was this town that I'd been compelled to spend a month every summer until I was fourteen. That was the year I finally put my foot down; these past three summers, my dad Charlie, vacationed with me in California for two weeks instead. It was to Forks that I now exiled myself-an action that I took with great horror. I detested Forks.**

"Guys…." I said uneasily.

"Yeah?" Edward replied.

"Why does this sound scarily like when I moved to Forks?" I asked. Edward opened his mouth to say something, but Alice interrupted.

"Because it is. This is the story of how you and Edward came to be. It's in your point of view. It was written by this Stephenie Meyer person but these are the only copies. Everything is good with it, nothing bad is going to happen but I thought it'd be fun to read." She said.

"Okay." I said. "If you say so." She grinned while everyone else shrugged.

"YES! I will _finally_ be able to know what you're thinking! Yah!," Edward was very excited with this fact. He smirked when I groaned with horror.

"Oh, it's _very _accurate." Alice said, grinning. Edward smiled.

And with that, I continued reading.

**I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and it's blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city.**

"**Bella," my mom said to me-the last of a thousand times-before I got on the plane. "You don't have to do this."**

**My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines. I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her wide, childlike eyes. How could I leave my loving, erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself? Of course she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would b food in the refrigerator, gas in her car and someone to call when she got lost, but still….**

"Now I see what you mean when you say that you were always more of a parent to her." Edward said, smiling at me.

"Like the book says, she's erratic and harebrained." I chuckled.

"**I **_**want**_** to go," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar, **

"Oh we know that!" Emmett said boisterously. Everyone laughed as I glared at him and continued reading.

**But I'd been saying this lie so frequently lately that it sounded almost convincing now.**

"**Tell Charlie I said hi."**

"**I will."**

"**I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want-I'll come right back as soon as you need me."**

**But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.**

"**Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."**

**She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she was gone. It was a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles and then an hour drive back down to Forks. Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was a little worried about.**

Emmett laughed at that.

**Charlie had been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence. He'd already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car. But it was going to be awkward with Charlie. Neither of us was what anyone would call verbose, and I didn't know what there was to say regardless. I knew he was more than a little confused by my decision- like my mother before me, I hadn't made a secret of my distaste for Forks.**

"I don't hate it so much any more." I said smiling at my vampire boyfriend and his vampire family. They smiled back and Edward kissed my forehead.

**When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn't see it as an omen- just unavoidable. I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun. Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser. This I was expecting, too. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks. My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds, was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on top. Nothing slows down traffic like a cop.**

"Unfortunately, it does." Edward sighed. Emmett and Jasper agreed. I rolled my eyes.

**Charlie gave me an awkward, one-armed hug when I stumbled my way off the plane.**

"**It's good to see you Bells," he said, smiling as he automatically caught and steadied me. **

Emmett chuckled but stopped short as I glared at him.

"**You haven't changed much. How's Renee?"**

"**Mom's fine. It's good to see you too, Dad." I wasn't allowed to call him Charlie to his face.**

**I had only a few bags. Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington. My mom and I had pooled our resources to supplement my winter wardrobe, but it was still scanty. It all fit easily into the trunk of the cruiser.**

Alice scowled and crossed her arms across her chest at this. I rolled my eyes. Edward and Carlisle chuckled at us.

"**I found a good car for you, really cheap," he announced when we were strapped in.**

"**What kind of car?" I was suspicious of the way he said "good car for **_**you**_**" as opposed to just "good car".**

"Perceptive as always." Edward commented making me slap him playfully and roll my eyes. "I'm just saying," He shrugged.

"**Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."**

"**Where did you find it?"**

"**Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?"**

The Cullen's growled at this. I simply rolled my eyes and kept reading.

**La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.**

"**No."**

"**He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.**

**That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.**

"**He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when I didn't respond, "so he can't drive anymore and e offered to sell his truck cheap."**

"**What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask.**

"Gee, I wonder why." Rose said, laughing. We all laughed too, agreeing.

"**Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine- it's only a few years old really."**

**I hoped he didn't think so little of me as to believe I would give up that easily. "When did he buy it?"**

"**He brought it in 1984, I think."**

"**Did he buy it new?"**

"**Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties- or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.**

"**Ch—Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong and I couldn't afford a mechanic…"**

"**Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."**

_**The thing**_**, I thought to myself…it had possibilities as a nickname, at the very least.**

Everyone laughed.

"It does make a good nickname." Edward said. I glared at him. "Sorry." He muttered which caused Emmett and Jasper to laugh.

"**How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part I couldn't compromise on.**

"**Well, honey, I kind of already brought it for you. As a homecoming gift."**

**Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression. Wow. Free.**

"**You didn't have to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."**

"**I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. I inherited that from him. So I was looking straight ahead as I responded.**

"**That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." No need to add that my being happy in Forks is an impossibility.**

"Oh really?" Edward mused.

"Shut up. At the time, it was." I said.

He kept quiet now.

**He didn't need to suffer along with me. And I never looked a free truck in the mouth- or engine.**

Emmett laughed loudly at that. "Nice little sis" He said, giving me a high five. I rolled my eyes at him but high-fived him anyways.

"**Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed by my thanks. **

**We exchanged a few more comments on the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much it for conversation. We stared out the window in silence. It was beautiful, of course; I couldn't deny that. Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves. It was too green- an alien planet.**

Alice and Rose both snorted.

**Eventually we made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that's he'd brought in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had- the early ones. There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my new- well new to me- truck. It was faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. To my intense surprise I loved it.**

"Unfortunately so." Edward muttered under his breath. I continued as if I hadn't heard him.

**I didn't know if it would run, but I could see myself in it. Plus, it was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged- the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed. **

"**Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!" Now my horrific day tomorrow would be just that much less dreadful. I wouldn't be faced with the choice of either walking two miles in the rain to school or accepting a ride in the Chief's cruiser.**

"**I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again. **

**It only took one trip to get all my stuff upstairs.**

Alice scowled at this again. We laughed at her.

**I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. The room was familiar; it had belonged to me since I was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed lace curtains around the window- these were all a part of my childhood. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as I grew. The desk now held a second-hand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. This was a stipulation from my mother, so that we could stay in touch easily. The rocking chair from my baby days was still in the corner. There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Charlie. I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact.**

"Poor Bella." Alice sighed, faking to wipe a tear from her eye, with her other hand held against her heart.

"Mhm." Rose agreed nodding. Emmett, Jazz, and Edward rolled their eyes.

**One of the best things about Charlie is that he doesn't hover. He left me alone to unpack and get settled, a feat that would have been altogether impossible for my mother. It was nice to be alone, not to have to smile and look pleased; a relief to stare dejectedly out the window at the sheeting rain and let just a few tears escape.**

"I'm sorry." Edward whispered, kissing me cheek.

"It wasn't your fault. It was mine." I chuckled.

"I know." He sighed.

**I wasn't in the mood to go on a real crying jag. I would save that for bedtime, when I would have to think about the coming morning. Forks High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven- now fifty-eight- students; there were more than seven hundred people in my junior class alone back home. All the kids here had grown up together- their grandparents had been toddlers together. I would be the new girl from the big city, a curiosity, a freak.**

"Got that right" Emmett, of course, agreed.

"She's not a freak." Edward growled.

Emmett just laughed.

**Maybe, if I looked like a girl from Phoenix should, I could work this to my advantage. But physically, I'd never fit in anywhere. I should be tan, sporty, blond- a volleyball player or a cheerleader perhaps- all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun. Instead I was ivory- skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, despite the constant sunshine. I had always been slender, but d\soft somehow, obviously not an athlete; I didn't have the necessary hand-eye coordination to play sports without humiliating myself- and harming both myself and anyone else who stood too close.**

Emmett and Jasper snickered.

**When I finished putting my clothes in the old pine dresser, I took my bag of bathroom necessities and went to the communal bathroom to clean myself up after the day of travel. I looked at my face in the mirror as I brushed my through my tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but already I looked sallower, unhealthy. My skin could be pretty- it was very clear, almost translucent looking- but it depended on color. I had no color here.**

**Facing my pallid reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that I was lying to myself. It wasn't physically that I'd never fit in. And if I couldn't find a niche in a school with three thousand people, what were my chances here?**

"Apparently, very good." Edward kissed just below my ear. I giggled.

"Awwwwwwww!" Alice squealed. "You guys are so cute!"

I rolled my eyes. Esme smiled at us.

**I didn't relate well to people my age.**

**Maybe the truth was that I didn't relate well to people, period.**

**Even my mother, who I was closer to than anyone else on the planet, was never in harmony with me, never exactly on the same page. Sometimes I wondered if I was seeing the same things through my eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain. But the cause didn't matter. All that mattered was the effect. And tomorrow would just be the beginning.**

**I didn't sleep well that night, even after I was done crying.**

At this, Edward frowned.

"Poor, poor Bella." Esme sighed.

I smiled at them.

**The constant whooshing of the rain and the wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. I pulled the faded quilt over my head, and later added the pillow, too. But I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight, when the rain finally settled into a quieter drizzle. Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on me. You could never see the sky here; it was like a cage.**

**Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet event. He wished me good luck at school. I thanked him knowing his hope was wasted.**

**Good luck tended to avoid me.**

"We know." Jasper said, grinning at me. I scowled at him. Everyone else laughed.

**Charlie left first, off to the police station that was his wife and family. After he left, I sat at the old square oak table in one of the three unmatching chairs and examined his small kitchen, with its dark paneled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and white linoleum floor. Nothing was changed. My mother had painted the cabinets eighteen years ago in an attempt to bring some sunshine into the house. Over the small fireplace in the adjoining handkerchief-sized family room was a row of pictures. First a wedding picture of Charlie and my mom in Las Vegas, then one of the three of us in the hospital after I was born, taken by a helpful nurse, followed by a procession of my school pictures up to last year's. Those were embarrassing to look at- I would have to see what I could do to get Charlie to put them somewhere else, at least while I was living here.**

**It was impossible, being in this house, not to realize that Charlie had never gotten over my mom. It made me uncomfortable.**

**I didn't want to be early to school, but I couldn't stay in the house anymore. I donned my jacket- which had the feel of a biohazard suit- **

Insert laughing here.

**and headed out into the rain. It was just drizzling still, not enough to soak me though immediately as I reached for the house key that was always hidden under the eaves by the door, and locked up.**

**The sloshing of my new waterproof boots was unnerving. I missed the normal crunch of gravel as I walked. I couldn't pause and admire my truck again as I wanted: I was in a hurry to get out of the misty wet that swirled around my head and clung to my hair under my hood. Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Either Billy or Charlie had obviously cleaned it up, but the tan upholstered seats still smelled faintly of tobacco, gasoline and peppermint.**

"Yuck!" Rose wrinkled her nose in disgust while the others nodded their agreement.

**The engine started quickly, to my relief, but loudly, roaring to life and then idling at top volume. Well, a truck this old was bound to have a flaw. The antique radio worked, a plus that I hadn't expected.**

"Neither had I for that matter." Edward said.

"_Don't _nock my truck." I glared. He smiled sheepishly at me.

Emmett tried to stifle his laughter. I tried to ignore him.

**Finding the school wasn't difficult, though I'd never been there before. The school was, like most things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that is was the school; only the sign, which declared it to be the Forks High School, made me stop. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs I couldn't see its size at first. Where was the feel of the institution? I wondered nostalgically. Where were the chain-link fences, the metal detectors?**

"Was your school really like that in Phoenix?" Emmett asked.

"Yah, there were so many students. I guess they wanted to make sure nobody attempted murder." I laughed. The others joined.

**I parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading FRONT OFFICE. No one else was parked there, so I was sure it was off limits, but I decided I would get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain like an idiot. I stepped unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges. I took a deep breath before opening the door.**

**Inside it was brightly lit, and warmer than I'd hoped. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored flyers taped to its front.**

"Good 'ole Forks High School." Rose sighed dramatically.

**There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made me feel overdressed.**

**The red-haired woman looked up.**

"**Can I help you?"**

"**I'm Isabella Swan**," **I informed her and saw the immediate awareness in her eyes. I was expected, a topic of gossip no doubt. Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last.**

"**Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the right ones she was looking for.**

"**I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She brought several sheets to the counter to show me. She went through my classes for me, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave me a slip to have each teacher sign, which I was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at me and hoped, like Charlie, that I would like it here in Forks. I smiled back as convincingly as I could.**

**When I went back out to my truck, other students were starting to arrive. I drove around the school, following the line of traffic. I was glad to see that most of the cars were older like mine, nothing flashy.**

**At home I'd lived in one of the few lower-income neighborhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley District. It was a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot.**

**The nicest car here was a shiny Volvo, and it stood out.**

"And cue Edward Cullen." I muttered.

He laughed, "Oh, Bella."

**Still, I cut the engine as soon as I was in a spot, so that the thunderous volume wouldn't draw attention to me. I looked at the map in the truck, trying to memorize it now; hopefully I wouldn't have to walk around with it stuck in front of my nose all day. I stuffed everything into my bag, slung the strap over my shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, I lied to myself feebly. No one was going to bite me.**

We all burst out laughing at that.

"Dude, how ironic is that?" Emmett asked through his laughter.

**I finally exhaled and stepped out of the truck. I kept my face pulled back into my hood as I walked to the sidewalk, crowded with teenagers. My plain black jacket didn't stand out, I noticed with relief. Once I got around to the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square n the east corner.**

**I felt my breathing gradually creep toward hyperventilation as I approached the door. I tried holding my breath as I followed two unisex raincoats through the door.**

**The classroom was small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one porcelain-colored blonde, the other also pale with light brown hair. At least my skin wouldn't stand out here.**

**I took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at me when he saw my name- not an encouraging response- and of course I flushed tomato red. But at least he sent me to an empty desk at the back without introducing me to the class. It was harder for me new classmates to stare at me at the back, but somehow they managed. **

**I kept my eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given me. It was fairly basic: Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner. I'd already read everything. That was comforting and boring. I wondered if my mom would send me my folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating. I went through different arguments with her in my head while the teacher droned on. When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me. **

"Eric, no doubt." Edward sighed.

"Yup." I said, popping the 'P'.

"**You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" He looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.**

"**Bella," I corrected. Everyone with in a three-seat radius turned to look at me.**

"**Where's your next class?" he asked.**

**I had to check in my bag. "Umm, Government, with Jefferson, in building six." There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.**

"**I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way…" Definitely over-helpful.**

"**I'm Eric," he added.**

Edward grimaced.

**I smiled tentatively. "Thanks."**

**We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.**

"**So, this is very different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.**

"**Very."**

"**It doesn't rain much there, does it?"**

"**Three or four times a year."**

"**Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.**

"Oh I wonder. You know, it's pretty much covered in snow 24/7. I've never seen the sun before." I said sarcastically. Everyone laughed.

"**Sunny," I told him.**

"**You don't look very tan."**

"**My mother is part albino."**

**He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humor didn't mix.**

**A few months of this and I'd forget how to use sarcasm. We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.**

"**Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful.**

**I smiled at him vaguely and went inside. The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, who I would have hated anyway just because of the subject he taught, was the only one who made me stand in front of the class and introduce myself. **

"Terrible!" I sighed.

Edward chuckled, and held me tighter.

**I stammered, blushed and tripped over my own boots on the way to my seat. **

Emmett and Alice laughed at that. Carlisle chuckled. I, of course, blushed scarlet red which made Edward kiss my cheek.

**After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks. I tried to be diplomatic, but mostly I just lied a lot. At least I never needed a map.**

**One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of difference between our heights. I couldn't remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she prattled on about teachers and classes. I didn't try to keep up.**

**We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room. It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.**

"Here we go." I sighed.

**They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them.**

**They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was quite safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held my attention. They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big-muscled like a serious weightlifter, with dark, curly hair.**

"ME!" Emmett yelled, excitedly.

**Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey-blond. The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair. He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college or even teachers here as opposed to students.**

Everyone smirked at my description of Edward. Said boy pouted. I kissed his pout away, laughing.

**The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the **_**Sports Illustrated**_** swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back.**

Rose smiled at me.

"Thanks Bella." She said.

"Your welcome." I smiled.

**The short girl was pixie-like, **

Alice pouted while we all laughed at her.

**thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.**

**And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. Paler than me, the albino. They all had very dark eyes despite their range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes- purplish, bruise-like shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.**

"Very observant." Carlisle mused.

**But this was not the reason why I could not look away.**

**I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all so devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful.**

**They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful- maybe the perfect blonde girl, or the bronze-haired boy.**

Edward and Rose both smiled at me. I smiled back.

"Gee, Thanks Bella." Alice said sarcastically.

"Oh, hush, _Pixie_." I stuck my tongue out at her. She pouted in return.

**They were all looking away- away from each other, away from the other students, way from anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray in her hand-unopened soda, unbitten apple- and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step,**

She brightened up at this.

**till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.**

"**Who are **_**they**_**?" I asked the girl from my Spanish class, whose name I'd already forgotten.**

**As she looked up to see who I meant-though already knowing, probably from my tone- suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest perhaps. He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine.**

"Awwwwwwwwwww, the first time you made eye contact!" Alice squealed.

"Oh my god, Alice. Are you gonna squeal at everything?!" I asked.

"Yes." She said, unashamed and smiling. I rolled my eyes.

**My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.**

"**That's Edward and Emmett Cullen and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said this all under one breath.**

**I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy,**

Edward and Esme smiled while Alice giggled.

**who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.**

"No wonder she was the one to figure out our secret. She noticed quite a lot." Carlisle said.

**Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had.**

**But maybe that was in vogue here-small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home.**

"**They are…very nice looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.**

"**Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all **_**together**_** though- Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they**_** live **_**together."**

**Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically. But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.**

"**Which ones are the Cullens?" I asked. "They don't look related…?"**

"**Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties.**

"That's what she said." Emmett boomed, we all laughed.

**They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins- the blondes- and they're foster children."**

"**They look a little old for foster children."**

"**They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."**

"**That's really nice- for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."**

"**I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at the adopted children, I would presume the reason was jealousy.**

"Yup." Jasper said. Edward nodded. Of course they'd know.

"**I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have kids though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness.**

"That's very sweet." Esme smiled at me. I smiled back before I continued reading.

**Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat.**

"**Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.**

"**No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like me. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."**

**I felt a surge of pity and relief.**

"Odd." Jasper muttered.

**Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesting by any standard. **

**As I examined them, the youngest, one of the Cullens, looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation. **"**Which is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was till staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today- he had a slightly frustrated expression. I looked down again.**

"Why would you be frustrated?" Esme asked her son.

"I couldn't read her thoughts. It wasn't something I was used to. I didn't understand." He admitted sheepishly.

"Ahh." She understood.

I smiled at him.

"**That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down.**

We laughed here.

**I bit my lip to hide a smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too. **

"I was, too." He smiled at me.

**After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They were all noticeably graceful- even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again. I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends than I would have if I'd been sitting alone. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me the next hour.**

"Angela is a nice girl. I like her." Edward smiled. We all agreed with him there.

**We walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too. When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.**

**As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face- it was hostile, furious.**

"Edward! That's very rude." Esme scolded.

"Sorry, Mom. But at least I didn't attack her." He said.

**I looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.**

Emmett laughed, of course.

**I'd noticed his eyes were black- coal black.**

**Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he had no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by **_**him,**_** bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given me.**

"Aww, is Bella scared?" Emmett teased.

"Oh shut up, Emmett. Leave her alone." Edward snarled.

"Enough boys." Esme scolded.

"Yes, Mom." They said.

**I didn't look up as I set my book on the table and took my seat, but I saw his posture change from the corner of my eye. He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair.**

They all laughed at me. In response, I pouted.

**It smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favorite shampoo. It seemed like an innocent enough odor. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher. Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd already studied. I took notes carefully, always looking down.**

**I couldn't stop myself from peeking occasionally through the screen of my hair at the strange boy next to me. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from me as possible. I could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. **

Esme shook her head, slightly smiling.

**This, too, he never relaxed. He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother.**

**The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because I was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing.**

**What was wrong with him? Was this normal behavior? I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as I'd thought.**

Edward snorted.

**It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't know me from Eve. I peeked at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion. As I flinched away from him, shrinking against me chair, the phrase **_**if looks could kill**_** suddenly ran through my mind.**

Emmett snickered. I threw a pillow at him, which of course, he dodged.

**At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Edward Cullen was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose- he was much taller than I'd thought- his back to me, and was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat. I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn't fair.**

Edward laughed and kissed my cheek again.

**I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up.**

"Well it looks like Bella was very upset by your behavior, son." Carlisle mused.

I blushed. Edward chuckled and kissed my hair.

**For some reason, my temper was hardwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried when I was angry, a humiliating tendency.**

"**Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a male voice asked.**

**I looked up to see a cute, baby-faced boy, his pale blond hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me in a friendly way. He obviously didn't think I smelled bad.**

Edward laughed. "You didn't smell bad. You smelled good. Far, far too good. That was the problem." He said.

I smiled.

"**Bella," I corrected him, with a smile.**

"**I'm Mike."**

Edward growled. I squeezed his hand.

"**Hi, Mike."**

"**Do you need help finding your next class?"**

"**I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."**

"**That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school this small. We walked to class together; he was a chatterer- he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for me.**

**He'd lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. It turned out he was in my English class also. He was the nicest person I'd met today. But as we were entering the gym, he asked,**

"**So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."**

Emmett laughed.

**I cringed. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that wasn't Edward Cullen's usual behavior. I decided to play dumb.**

"**Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" I asked artlessly.**

"**Yes," he said. "It looked like he was in pain or something."**

"**I don't know," I responded. "I never spoke to him."**

"**He's a weird guy." Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."**

Once again, Edward growled. Jasper sent him a wave of calm. Edward smiled gratefully at him.

**I smiled at him before walking through the girl's locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring. But it wasn't enough to ease my irritation. The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn't make me dress down for today's class. At home, only two years of P.E were required. Here, P.E was mandatory all four years. Forks was literally my personal hell on Earth.**

**I watched four volleyball games running simultaneously. Remembering how many injuries I had sustained- and inflicted- playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated. The final bell rang at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder. I wrapped my arms around myself. When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked back out.**

Edward grimaced. Esme looked at him confused.

"You'll see." He told her. She nodded.

**Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of me.**

"Oh" She nodded.

**I recognized again that tousled bronze hair. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free. He was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time- any other time.**

**I just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something else, something that happened before I entered the Biology room. The look on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to me. **

Edward sqeezed my hand again.

**The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face. The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked back out again.**

**But Edward Cullen's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare at me- his face was absurdly handsome- with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instance, I felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms.**

"A rational response! Even if it's only for a second!" Edward laughed.

**The look only lasted a second, but it chilled me more than the freezing wind. He turned back to the receptionist.**

"**Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help."**

**And he turned on his hell without another look at me and disappeared out the door. I went meekly to the desk, my face white for once instead of red, and handed her the signed slip.**

"**How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.**

"Oh, just amazing." I said sarcastically.

"**Fine," I lied, my voice weak. She didn't look convinced.**

**When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest thing to home I had in this damp green hole. I sat inside for awhile, just staring out the windshield blankly. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life. I headed back to Charlie's house, fighting tear the whole way there.**

"Aww Edward, you made her cry!" Esme said.

"I feel bad now." He said, kissing my forehead.

"I'm sorry, Love." He whispered to me. I kissed him to assure him it was fine.

"Well that's the end of the chapter." I said.

"Let's read chapter two!" Alice called happily.

And of course, my stomach chose that moment to growl.

"Fine, but only after the human eats." Edward smiled at me. He stood up, taking my hand and led me into the kitchen.

_**A/N: Good or Bad? REVIEW! Once again, ANY suggestions?!**_

_**I'm open-minded people!**_

_**So here's what's up with the story. All of the stuff in Twilight has happened so far. But nothing in New Moon, Eclipse, or Breaking Dawn has, so they get to see their future and possibly change some stuff. I'm not sure if I'm going to write that though or if I'm just going to stop after Breaking Dawn. We will see what happens when that time comes =D**_

_**Review and I'll give you and EDWARD CULLEN CYBER-COOKIE (with sprinkles!) =D**_

_**-- VAMPtastic1901**_


	4. Chapter 4: Open Book

_**A/N: Okay! Here's the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews everyone! They mean a lot to me!**_

_**Disclaimer: Me no own Twilight.**_

BPOV

"Okay let's read the next chapter!" Esme said excitedly.

"Okay." I said.

"**Open Book" **I read.

**The next day was better… and worse.**

"How can it be better and worse at the same time?" Emmett asked loudly, scoffing.

"Shhh!" We shushed him.

"I was just asking, gosh." He mumbled under his breath.

**It was better because it wasn't raining yet, though the clouds were dense and opaque. It was easier because I knew what to expect of my day. Mike came to sit by me in English, and walked me to my next class, with Chess Club Eric glaring at him all the while; that was flattering.**

**People didn't look at me quite as much as they had yesterday. I sat with a big group at lunch that included Mike, Eric, Jessica, and several other people whose names and faces I now remembered. I began to feel like I was treading water, instead of drowning in it.**

**It was worse because I was tired; I still couldn't sleep with the wind echoing around the house. It was worse because Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when my hand wasn't raised and I had the wrong answer. It was miserable because I had to play volleyball, and the one time I didn't cringe out of the way of the ball, I hit my teammate in the head with it.**

Everyone burst out laughing at that. Esme smiled at me, shaking her head slowly. I glared at them and continued on.

**And it was worse because Edward Cullen wasn't in school at all.**

"Aww!" Emmett yelled sarcastically.

"Shut up." I muttered, otherwise ignoring him while Alice giggled.

**All morning I was dreading lunch, fearing his bizarre glares. Part of me wanted to confront him and demand to know what his problem was. While I was lying sleepless in my bed, I even imagined what I would say. But I knew myself too well to think I would really have the guts to do it. I made the Cowardly Lion look like the terminator.**

Ooh, Ooh, Ooh. Guess what? Emmett laughed. _**(AN: lol)**_

**But when I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica — trying to keep my eyes from sweeping the place for him, and failing entirely — I saw that his four siblings of sorts were sitting together at the same table, and he was not with them. Mike intercepted us and steered us to his table. Jessica seemed elated by the attention and her friends quickly joined us. But as I tried to listen to their easy chatter, I was terribly uncomfortable, waiting nervously for the moment he would arrive. I hoped that he would simply ignore me when he came, and prove my suspicions false. **

**He didn't come, and as time passed I grew more and more tense. I walked to Biology with more confidence when, by the end of lunch, he still hadn't showed. Mike, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever, walked faithfully by my side to class.**

"Woof, woof." Rose muttered. I giggled but otherwise said nothing.

**I held my breath at the door, but Edward Cullen wasn't there, either. I exhaled and went to my seat. Mike followed, talking about an upcoming trip to the beach.**

**He lingered by my desk till the bell rang. Then he smiled at me wistfully and went to sit by a girl with braces and a bad perm. It looked like I was going to have to do something about Mike, and it wouldn't be easy. In a town like this, where everyone lived on top of everyone else, diplomacy was essential. I had never been enormously tactful; I had no practice dealing with overly friendly boys.**

**I was relieved that I had the desk to myself, that Edward was absent. I told myself that repeatedly. But I couldn't get rid of the nagging suspicion that I was the reason he wasn't there. It was ridiculous, and egotistical, to think that I could affect anyone that strongly. It was impossible. And yet I couldn't stop worrying that it was true.**

Edward kissed my forehead. "You worry too much," he whispered.

"Sorry." I whispered back, smiling. He chuckled.

**When the school day was finally done, and the blush was fading out of my cheeks from the volleyball incident, **

Emmett snickered.

**I changed quickly back into my jeans and navy blue sweater. I hurried from the girls' locker room, pleased to find that I had successfully evaded my retriever friend for the moment. I walked swiftly out to the parking lot. It was crowded now with fleeing students. I got in my truck and dug through my bag to make sure I had what I needed.**

**Last night I'd discovered that Charlie couldn't cook much besides fried eggs and bacon.**

**So I requested that I be assigned kitchen detail for the duration of my stay. **

**He was willing enough to hand over the keys to the banquet hall. I also found out that he had no food in the house. So I had my shopping list and the cash from the jar in the cupboard labeled FOOD MONEY, and I was on my way to the Thriftway.**

**I gunned my deafening engine to life, ignoring the heads that turned in my direction, and backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As I waited, trying to pretend that the earsplitting rumble was coming from someone else's car, I saw the two Cullens and the Hale twins getting into their car. It was the shiny new Volvo. Of course. I hadn't noticed their clothes before — **

Alice gasped, holding her hand on her heart, looking offended. "Bella Swan, I am offended. All that hard work I put into making this family fashionable, and you don't even notice!" She fake sobbed. I rolled my eyes.

"Boo-hoo-hoo." I said sarcastically which caused everyone to laugh. Alice glared at me so I shrugged at her with a big, cheesy smile, and went back to reading.

**I'd been too mesmerized by their faces. Now that I looked, it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins. With their remarkable good looks, the style with which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off.**

Alice scoffed. "Terrible."

**It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money. But as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. It didn't look as if it bought them any acceptance here.**

**No, I didn't fully believe that. The isolation must be their desire; I couldn't imagine any door that wouldn't be opened by that degree of beauty.**

**They looked at my noisy truck as I passed them, just like everyone else.**

"But for a different reason." Jasper said.

**I kept my eyes straight forward and was relieved when I finally was free of the school grounds.**

**The Thriftway was not far from the school, just a few streets south, off the highway. It was nice to be inside the supermarket; it felt normal. I did the shopping at home, and I fell into the pattern of the familiar task gladly. The store was big enough inside that I couldn't hear the tapping of the rain on the roof to remind me where I was.**

**When I got home, I unloaded all the groceries, stuffing them in wherever I could find an open space. I hoped Charlie wouldn't mind. I wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of a carton of eggs in the fridge.**

**When I was finished with that, I took my book bag upstairs. Before starting my homework, I changed into a pair of dry sweats, pulled my damp hair up into a pony-tail, and checked my e-mail for the first time. I had three messages.**

"Renee, no doubt." Edward said. I nodded.

"_**Bella**_**," my mom wrote…**

_**Write me as soon as you get in. Tell me how your flight was. Is it raining? I miss you already. I'm almost finished packing for Florida, but I can't find my pink blouse. Do you know where I put it? Phil says hi. Mom.**_

**I sighed and went to the next. It was sent eight hours after the first.**

**"**_**Bella**_**," she wrote…**

_**Why haven't you e-mailed me yet? **_

_**What are you waiting for? Mom.**_

**The last was from this morning.**

_**Isabella,**_

"Oooh, Bella's in trouble!" Emmett said playfully.

_**If I haven't heard from you by 5:30 p.m. today I'm calling Charlie. **_

**I checked the clock. I still had an hour, but my mom was well known for jumping the gun.**

_**Mom,**_

_**Calm down. I'm writing right now. **_

_**Don't do anything rash.**_

_**Bella.**_

**I sent that, and began again.**

_**Mom,**_

_**Everything is great. Of course it's raining. I was waiting for something to write about.**_

_**School isn't bad, just a little repetitive. I met some nice kids who sit by me at lunch. Your blouse is at the dry cleaners - you were supposed to pick it up Friday. Charlie bought me a truck, can you believe it? I love it. It's old, but really sturdy, which is good, you know, for me.**_

Edward snorted so I glared at him. He smiled sheepishly so I began again.

_**I miss you, too. I'll write again soon, but I'm not going to check my e-mail every five minutes. Relax, breathe. I love you.**_

_**Bella.**_

**I had decided to read Wuthering Heights — **

Edward rolled his eyes.

**The novel we were currently studying in English —yet again for the fun of it, and that's what I was doing when Charlie came home. I'd lost track of the time, and I hurried downstairs to take the potatoes out and put the steak in to broil.**

**"Bella?" my father called out when he heard me on the stairs.**

**Who else? I thought to myself.**

**"Hey, Dad, welcome home."**

**"Thanks." He hung up his gun belt and stepped out of his boots as I bustled about the kitchen. As far as I was aware, he'd never shot the gun on the job. But he kept it ready.**

**When I came here as a child, he would always remove the bullets as soon as he walked in the door. I guess he considered me old enough now not to shoot myself by accident, and not depressed enough to shoot myself on purpose.**

**"What's for dinner?" he asked warily. My mother was an imaginative cook, and her experiments weren't always edible. I was surprised, and sad, that he seemed to remember that far back.**

**"Steak and potatoes," I answered, **

"Yuck!" The Cullen's said.

**And he looked relieved.**

**He seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen doing nothing; he lumbered into the living room to watch TV while I worked. We were both more comfortable that way. I made a salad while the steaks cooked, and set the table.**

**I called him in when dinner was ready, and he sniffed appreciatively as he walked into the room.**

**"Smells good, Bell."**

**"Thanks."**

**We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable. Neither of us was bothered by the quiet. In some ways, we were well suited for living together.**

**"So, how did you like school? Have you made any friends?" he asked as he was taking seconds.**

**"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice." With one outstanding exception.**

"Edward." Emmett said through a fake cough. Which earned him a glare from Edward.

**"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid — nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here."**

**"Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked hesitantly.**

**"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."**

**"They… the kids… are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school." **

"Gee, thanks Bells." Alice said. I smiled sheepishly at her.

**Charlie surprised me by looking angry.**

**"People in this town," he muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder. "We're lucky to have him — lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature — I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should — camping trips every other weekend… Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."**

"Wow, I never knew that was how Charlie thought of us." Edward said, surprised.

"Me neither." Alice said.

"That's so nice of him, to defend our family like that." Esme smiled.

**It was the longest speech I'd ever heard Charlie make. He must feel strongly about whatever people were saying. I backpedaled. "They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive," I added, trying to be more complimentary.**

Insert blush here.

**"You should see the doctor," Charlie said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around."**

**We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started on the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand — no dishwasher — I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my math homework. I could feel a tradition in the making.**

**That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.**

**The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday I was able to recognize, if not name, almost all the students at school. In Gym, the kids on my team learned not to pass me the ball and to step quickly in front of me if the other team tried to take advantage of my weakness. I happily stayed out of their way.**

**Edward Cullen didn't come back to school.**

"Aww, she's thinking about you, Eddie." Said Emmett. We laughed; he glared.

**Every day, I watched anxiously until the rest of the Cullens entered the cafeteria without him. Then I could relax and join in the lunchtime conversation. Mostly it centered around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks that Mike was putting together. I was invited, and I had agreed to go, more out of politeness than desire.**

**Beaches should be hot and dry.**

**By Friday I was perfectly comfortable entering my Biology class, no longer worried that Edward would be there. For all I knew, he had dropped out of school. I tried not to think about him, but I couldn't totally suppress the worry that I was responsible for his continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed.**

**My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Charlie, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. I cleaned the house, got ahead on my homework, and wrote my mom more bogusly cheerful e-mail. I did drive to the library Saturday, but it was so poorly stocked that I didn't bother to get a card; I would have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore. I wondered idly what kind of gas mileage the truck got… and shuddered at the thought.**

**The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so I was able to sleep well.**

**People greeted me in the parking lot Monday morning. I didn't know all their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. In English, Mike took his accustomed seat by my side. We had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights. It was straightforward, very easy.**

"Of course it was, for you. Imagine how hard it was for the normal student nowadays to take that." Edward smiled at me.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Very mature, Bella." Emmett said.

"Claps for Bella!" Alice said cheerfully. Then everyone except Edward, Carlisle, and Esme clapped three times in a row. I rolled my eyes.

"Freaks." I muttered.

"We heard that!" Rose, Em, Jazz, and Alice said together.

"Whatever."

**All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point. More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here.**

"Other than vicous glares." Edward muttered. I squeezed his hand in reassurance.

**When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white.**

"YAAAAY! IT'S SNOWING!" Emmett shouted and clapped.

"Idiot." Rose muttered.

Emmett pouted.

**I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose.**

**"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."**

**I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face.**

**"Ew." Snow. There went my good day.**

**He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"**

**"No. That means it's too cold for rain." Obviously. "Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes — you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips."**

**"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously.**

**"Sure I have." I paused." On TV."**

Everyone laughed.

"Nice Bella." Emmett said, giving me a high five.

**Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. We both turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Eric, who was walking away, his back toward us — in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of the white mush.**

**"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" I kept walking as I spoke. "Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside."**

"BAHAHA!" Emmett laughed.

**He just nodded, his eyes on Eric's retreating figure.**

**Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the new year. I kept my mouth shut. Sure, it was drier than rain — until it melted in your socks.**

**I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish. Mush balls were flying everywhere. I kept a binder in my hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. **

**Jessica thought I was hilarious, but something in my expression kept her from lobbing a snowball at me herself.**

They all laughed again.

**Mike caught up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line to buy food. I glanced toward that table in the corner out of habit. And then I froze where I stood. There were five people at the table.**

**Jessica pulled on my arm.**

**"Hello? Bella? What do you want?"**

**I looked down; my ears were hot. I had no reason to feel self-conscious, I reminded myself. I hadn't done anything wrong.**

**"What's with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica.**

"Why wouldn't he just ask Bella?" Rose said. Edward shrugged.

"It's Mike. Did you expect something intelligent from him?" He asked.

"Good point, I guess." She agreed.

**"Nothing," I answered. "I'll just get a soda today." I caught up to the end of the line.**

**"Aren't you hungry?" Jessica asked.**

**"Actually, I feel a little sick," I said, my eyes still on the floor.**

**I waited for them to get their food, and then followed them to a table, my eyes on my feet.**

**I sipped my soda slowly, my stomach churning. Twice Mike asked, with unnecessary concern, how I was feeling.**

**I told him it was nothing, but I was wondering if I should play it up and escape to the nurse's office for the next hour.**

"Now, you know it's bad when a goody-two-shoes like Bella here contemplates ditching just to get away from you, Edward." Jasper snickered.

Emmett laughed. Edward just grimaced.

**Ridiculous. I shouldn't have to run away.**

Edward looked amused at this. Why? I don't know. Weird boy. Very weird boy. _**(AN: lol)**_

**I decided to permit myself one glance at the Cullen family's table. If he was glaring at me, I would skip Biology, like the coward I was.**

**I kept my head down and glanced up under my lashes. None of them were looking this way. I lifted my head a little.**

**They were laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair toward them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else — only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us.**

**But, aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and I couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Edward the most carefully.**

**His skin was less pale, I decided — flushed from the snow fight maybe — **

"Or from hunting." Carlisle interceded.

**the circles under his eyes much less noticeable. But there was something more. I pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change.**

**"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, her eyes following my stare.**

**At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to meet mine.**

"Jessica was thinking my name." He explained.

**I dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure, though, in the instant our eyes met, that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly as he had the last time I'd seen him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way.**

**"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica giggled in my ear.**

**"He doesn't look angry, does he?" I couldn't help asking.**

**"No," she said, sounding confused by my question. "Should he be?"**

**"I don't think he likes me," I confided. I still felt queasy. I put my head down on my arm.**

**"The Cullens don't like anybody…well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."**

**"Stop looking at him," I hissed.**

**She snickered, but she looked away. I raised my head enough to make sure that she did, contemplating violence if she resisted.**

They all laughed.

**Mike interrupted us then — he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted us to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. I kept silent. I would have to hide in the gym until the parking lot cleared.**

**For the rest of the lunch hour I very carefully kept my eyes at my own table. I decided to honor the bargain I'd made with myself. Since he didn't look angry, I would go to Biology. My stomach did frightened little flips at the thought of sitting next to him again. **

**I didn't really want to walk to class with Mike as usual — he seemed to be a popular target for the snowball snipers — but when we went to the door, everyone besides me groaned in unison. **

"Of course Bella wouldn't. She's gotta be the odd one." Emmett scoffed teasingly.

Once again, I stuck my tongue out at him.

**It was raining, washing all traces of the snow away in clear, icy ribbons down the side of the walkway. I pulled my hood up, secretly pleased. I would be free to go straight home after Gym.**

**Mike kept up a string of complaints on the way to building four.**

**Once inside the classroom, I saw with relief that my table was still empty. Mr. Banner was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slides to each table. Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. I kept my eyes away from the door, doodling idly on the cover of my notebook.**

**I heard very clearly when the chair next to me moved, **

**But my eyes stayed carefully focused on the pattern I was drawing.**

**"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.**

**I looked up, stunned that he was speaking to me. **

**He was sitting as far away from me as the desk allowed, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet, disheveled — even so, he looked like he'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. His dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful.**

**"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."**

**My mind was spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing?**

"Ha, now you've got her thinking she's crazy." Jasper laughed.

**He was perfectly polite now. I had to speak; he was waiting. But I couldn't think of anything conventional to say.**

**"H-how do you know my name?" I stammered.**

"You're only the new girl in a town where everyone knows everything about everyone. I wonder why people know your name…hmm." Emmett said, smirking at me.

"Shut up!" I said, blushing.

**He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh.**

**"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."**

**I grimaced. I knew it was something like that.**

**"No," I persisted stupidly. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"**

**He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"**

**"No, I like Bella," I said. "But I think Charlie — I mean my dad — must call me Isabella behind my back — that's what everyone here seems to know me as," I tried to explain, feeling like an utter moron.**

**"Oh." He let it drop. I looked away awkwardly.**

"Aww, you're first conversation!" Alice sighed." Edward and I rolled our eyes.

Esme smiled at us.

**Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate as he explained the lab we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order. Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. We weren't supposed to use our books. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.**

**"Get started," he commanded.**

**"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile so beautiful that I could only stare at him like an idiot.**

**"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile faded; he was obviously wondering if I was mentally competent.**

Emmett's laughter boomed.

"I was not." Edward muttered.

**"No," I said, flushing. "I'll go ahead."**

**I was showing off, just a little. I'd already done this lab, and I knew what I was looking for. **

"Nerd." Emmett coughed.

Edward glared at him and he shut up.

**It should be easy. I snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied the slide briefly.**

**My assessment was confident." Prophase."**

**"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as I began to remove the slide. His hand caught mine, to stop me, as he asked. His fingers were ice-cold, like he'd been holding them in a snowdrift before class. **

**But that wasn't why I jerked my hand away so quickly. When he touched me, it stung my hand as if an electric current had passed through us.**

"That's interesting," Carlisle said raising his eyebrow. "I've never heard of something like that happening before. I wonder if you felt it too, or if it was just her."

"I don't know," Edward said. "I wonder what it means."

**"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand back immediately. However, he continued to reach for the microscope. I watched him, still staggered, as he examined the slide for an even shorter time than I had.**

**"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on our worksheet. He swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily.**

**"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.**

**I kept my voice indifferent. "May I?"**

**He smirked and pushed the microscope to me.**

**I looked through the eyepiece eagerly, only to be disappointed. Dang it, he was right.**

Everyone laughed.

**"Slide three?" I held out my hand without looking at him.**

**He handed it to me; it seemed like he was being careful not to touch my skin again.**

**I took the most fleeting look I could manage.**

**"Interphase." I passed him the microscope before he could ask for it. He took a swift peek, and then wrote it down. I would have written it while he looked, but his clear, elegant script intimidated me. I didn't want to spoil the page with my clumsy scrawl.**

**We were finished before anyone else was close. I could see Mike and his partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group had their book open under the table.**

**Which left me with nothing to do but try to not look at him… unsuccessfully. I glanced up, and he was staring at me, that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes.**

**Suddenly I identified that subtle difference in his face.**

**"Did you get contacts?" I blurted out unthinkingly.**

Jasper looked at me, confused.

"Perceptive." I said in a sing song voice, smiling smugly.

**He seemed puzzled by my unexpected question.**

**"No."**

**"Oh," I mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."**

**He shrugged, and looked away.**

**In fact, I was sure there was something different. I vividly remembered the flat black color of his eyes the last time he'd glared at me — the color was striking against the background of his pale skin and his auburn hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different color: a strange ocher, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone. I didn't understand how that could be, unless he was lying for some reason about the contacts. Or maybe Forks was making me crazy in the literal sense of the word.**

"Possibly." Emmett said. I threw another pillow at him, which hit Alice. She pouted at me, as well as glaring.

"Whoops. Sorry, Alice." I shrugged, smiling sheepishly. She smiled back.

"It's okay." She said bubbly yet again.

**I looked down. His hands were clenched into hard fists again.**

**Mr. Banner came to our table then, to see why we weren't working. He looked over our shoulders to glance at the completed lab, and then stared more intently to check the answers.**

**"So, Edward, didn't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?" Mr. Banner asked.**

"That was rude. He shouldn't assume that she is incapable of doing the lab. Or that you didn't allow her to try." Esme said, frowning.

"That's Mr. Banner for ya, Mom." Edward sighed. She smiled gently at him.

**"Bella," Edward corrected automatically. "Actually, she identified three of the five."**

**Mr. Banner looked at me now; his expression was skeptical.**

**"Have you done this lab before?" he asked.**

**I smiled sheepishly. "Not with onion root."**

**"Whitefish blastula?"**

**"Yeah."**

**Mr. Banner nodded. "Were you in an advanced placement program in Phoenix ?"**

**"Yes."**

**"Well," he said after a moment, "I guess it's good you two are lab partners." He mumbled something else as he walked away. After he left, I began doodling on my notebook again.**

**"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward asked. **

"Really, Edward? The weather?" Alice asked, shaking her head disapprovingly.

He shrugged. "At least I talked to her."

"True."

**I had the feeling that he was forcing himself to make small talk with me. Paranoia swept over me again. It was like he had heard my conversation with Jessica at lunch and was trying to prove me wrong. "Not really," I answered honestly, instead of pretending to be normal like everyone else.**

**I was still trying to dislodge the stupid feeling of suspicion, and I couldn't concentrate.**

**"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.**

**"Or the wet."**

**"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.**

**"You have no idea," I muttered darkly.**

**He looked fascinated by what I said, for some reason I couldn't imagine. **

"Why, because he's in loooooooove." Emmett teased.

"Emmett." Esme warned.

Edward smiled at her gratefully. She nodded in return.

**His face was such a distraction that I tried not to look at it any more than courtesy absolutely demanded.**

**"Why did you come here, then?"**

"That was rude. You shouldn't pry, Edward." Esme scolded her son.

Edward looked sheepish. "Sorry, mom. I didn't mean it to be rude, I was just curious."

"I understand." She nodded. He smiled.

**No one had asked me that — not straight out like he did, demanding.**

**"It's… complicated."**

**"I think I can keep up," he pressed.**

**I paused for a long moment, and then made the mistake of meeting his gaze. His dark gold eyes confused me, and I answered without thinking.**

**"My mother got remarried," I said.**

**"That doesn't sound so complex," he disagreed, but he was suddenly sympathetic.**

**"When did that happen?"**

**"Last September." My voice sounded sad, even to me.**

**"And you don't like him," Edward surmised, his tone still kind.**

**"No, Phil is fine. Too young, maybe, but nice enough."**

**"Why didn't you stay with them?"**

**I couldn't fathom his interest, but he continued to stare at me with penetrating eyes, as if my dull life's story was "somehow vitally important.**

**"Phil travels a lot. He plays ball for a living." I half-smiled.**

**"Have I heard of him?" he asked, smiling in response.**

**"Probably not. He doesn't play well. Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot."**

**"And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him." He said it as an assumption again, not a question.**

**My chin raised a fraction." No, she did not send me here. I sent myself."**

"Always so stubborn." Edward sighed, kissing my hair. I shrugged.

**His eyebrows knit together. "I don't understand," he admitted, and he seemed unnecessarily frustrated by that fact.**

**I sighed. Why was I explaining this to him? He continued to stare at me with obvious curiosity.**

**"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy… so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie." My voice was glum by the time I finished.**

**"But now you're unhappy," he pointed out.**

**"And?" I challenged.**

"Selfless," Edward smiled, giving me a quick peck on the lips. I smiled at him.

**"That doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, but his eyes were still intense.**

**I laughed without humor. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."**

**"I believe I have heard that somewhere before," he agreed dryly.**

**"So that's all," I insisted, wondering why he was still staring at me that way.**

**His gaze became appraising. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."**

"She obviously didn't want people to know she was suffering, right Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"Yupp." I popped the 'P'.

"See? You shouldn't have called her out on that, son." He said to Edward.

"I hadn't realized that at the time." He sighed. I squeezed his hand, assuring him it was fine now. He smiled at me lovingly.

**I grimaced at him, resisting the impulse to stick out my tongue like a five-year-old, and looked away.**

**"Am I wrong?"**

**I tried to ignore him.**

**"I didn't think so," he murmured smugly.**

**"Why does it matter to you?" I asked, irritated. **

They all laughed, except Esme and Carlisle, Emmett's being the loudest by far.

**I kept my eyes away, watching the teacher make his rounds.**

**"That's a very good question," he muttered, so quietly that I wondered if he was talking to himself. However, after a few seconds of silence, I decided that was the only answer I was going to get.**

**I sighed, scowling at the blackboard.**

**"Am I annoying you?" he asked. He sounded amused.**

**I glanced at him without thinking… and told the truth again. "Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself. My face is so easy to read — my mother always calls me her open book." I frowned.**

**"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." Despite everything that I'd said and he'd guessed, he sounded like he meant it.**

**"You must be a good reader then," I replied.**

**"Usually." He smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultra-white teeth.**

**Mr. Banner called the class to order then, and I turned with relief to listen. I was in disbelief that I'd just explained my dreary life to this bizarre, beautiful boy who may or may not despise me. He'd seemed engrossed in our conversation, but now I could see, from the corner of my eye, that he was leaning away from me again, his hands gripping the edge of the table with unmistakable tension.**

**I tried to appear attentive as Mr. Banner illustrated, with transparencies on the overhead projector, what I had seen without difficulty through the microscope. But my thoughts were unmanageable.**

**When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, I stared after him in amazement.**

"Nice, Eddie, Nice." Emmett commented.

Edward growled. "_Don't_. Call me Eddie."

**Mike skipped quickly to my side and picked up my books for me. I imagined him with a wagging tail.**

Emmett laughed. Edward chuckled.

**"That was awful," he groaned. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner."**

**"I didn't have any trouble with it," I said, stung by his assumption. **

**I regretted the snub instantly. "I've done the lab before, though," I added before he could get his feelings hurt.**

"So caring about others," Edward sighed.

"That's a very good trait, Dear." Esme said, smiling at me.

I smiled back. "Thanks." She nodded.

**"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," he commented as we shrugged into our raincoats. He didn't seem pleased about it. **

**I tried to sound indifferent. "I wonder what was with him last Monday."**

**I couldn't concentrate on Mike's chatter as we walked to Gym, and RE. didn't do much to hold my attention, either. Mike was on my team today. He chivalrously covered my position as well as his own, so my woolgathering was only interrupted when it was my turn to serve; my team ducked warily out of the way every time I was up.**

**The rain was just a mist as I walked to the parking lot, but I was happier when I was in the dry cab. I got the heater running, for once not caring about the mind-numbing roar of the engine. I unzipped my jacket, put the hood down, and fluffed my damp hair out so the heater could dry it on the way home.**

**I looked around me to make sure it was clear. That's when I noticed the still, white figure. Edward Cullen was leaning against the front door of the Volvo, three cars down from me, and staring intently in my direction. **

Jasper snickered. "Spying, Edward?"

"No." He scoffed.

"Mhmm." He hummed, sarcastically.

**I swiftly looked away and threw the truck into reverse, almost hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla in my haste. Lucky for the Toyota, I stomped on the brake in time. It was just the sort of car that my truck would make scrap metal of. I took a deep breath, still looking out the other side of my car, and cautiously pulled out again, with greater success. I stared straight ahead as I passed the Volvo, but from a peripheral peek, I would swear I saw him laughing.**

"I was, although if you'd actually hit them, I would have probably been dying of worry." He smiled at me.

"_You_ worry too much." I said, poking my tongue out. He chuckled.

"Go on, Bella." Alice sighed, impatient.

"That was the end of the chapter." I sighed.

"Oh."

"Shall we read more, then?" Edward asked.

A chorus of 'mhm's and 'yah's echoed throughout the room.

"Okay, here we go." I said.

_**A/N: Yay! Tell me what you think please.**_

_**Remember: The more reviews I get, the faster **_**YOU**_** get a chapter!!!!!**_

_**So Review, Review, Review my pretty's! =D**_

**--VAMPtastic1901**


	5. Chapter 5: Phenomenon

**Hey guys! I am SO SO SO sorry for not updating in FOREVER!!!! But ik how you all hate AN's so I'm just gonna skip the excuses and get straight to the story!!!**

**REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing **

"**Phenomenon," **I continued.

**When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different.**

**It was the light. It was still the gray-green light of a cloudy day in the forest, but it was clearer somehow. I realized there was no fog veiling my window.**

**I jumped up to look outside, and then groaned in horror.**

**A fine layer of snow covered the yard, dusted the top of my truck, and whitened the road. But that wasn't the worst part. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid — coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway a deadly ice slick. I had enough trouble not falling down when the ground was dry; it might be safer for me to go back to bed now.**

Emmett laughed loudly at this, while everyone else chuckled.

"That is very true, love." Edward smiled at me. I glared at him, then decided to continue reading.

**Charlie had left for work before I got downstairs. In a lot of ways, living with Charlie was like having my own place, and I found myself reveling in the aloneness instead of being lonely.**

"Weird-o," Emmett snickered. I glared at him.

"She is NOT!" Edward growled. I smiled at him and he motioned for me to continue reading.

**I threw down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice from the carton. I felt excited to go to school, and that scared me. **

**I knew it wasn't the stimulating learning environment I was anticipating, or seeing my new set of friends. If I was being honest with myself, I knew I was eager to get to school because I would see Edward Cullen. And that was very, very stupid.**

"Yes, it was." Edward agreed. I rolled my eyes, but otherwise ignored him.

**I should be avoiding him entirely after my brainless and embarrassing babbling yesterday. And I was suspicious of him; why should he lie about his eyes? I was still frightened of the hostility I sometimes felt emanating from him, and I was still tongue-tied whenever I pictured his perfect face. **

"Perfect face…hahaha," Emmett's laughter boomed. I, of course, blushed a brilliant shade of red.

"Okay, we are NOT reading the rest of these books…" I said, covering my face with my hands.

"Yes, we are!" Alice yelled.

"But it's soo embarrassing!"

Emmett laughed.

"Too bad," Edward said, smiling at me and kissing my cheek.

I sighed, and continued.

**I was well aware that my league and his league were spheres that did not touch. **

**So I shouldn't be at all anxious to see him today.**

**It took every ounce of my concentration to make it down the icy brick driveway alive. I almost lost my balance when I finally got to the truck, but I managed to cling to the side mirror and save myself. Clearly, today was going to be nightmarish.**

**Driving to school, I distracted myself from my fear of falling and my unwanted speculations about Edward Cullen by thinking about Mike and Eric, **

Edward growled loudly at this. I rolled my eyes.

**and the obvious difference in how teenage boys responded to me here. I was sure I looked exactly the same as I had in Phoenix. Maybe it was just that the boys back home had watched me pass slowly through all the awkward phases of adolescence and still thought of me that way. Perhaps it was because I was a novelty here, where novelties were few and far between. Possibly my crippling clumsiness was seen as endearing rather than pathetic, casting me as a damsel in distress. Whatever the reason, Mike's puppy dog behavior and Eric's apparent rivalry with him were disconcerting. I wasn't sure if I didn't prefer being ignored.**

**My truck seemed to have no problem with the black ice that covered the roads. I drove very slowly, though, not wanting to carve a path of destruction through Main Street.**

"I would LOVE to see that!" Emmett laughed. Alice giggled.

**When I got out of my truck at school, I saw why I'd had so little trouble. Something silver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the truck — carefully holding the side for support — to examine my tires. **

**There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Charlie had gotten up who knows how early to put snow chains on my truck. My throat suddenly felt tight. I wasn't used to being taken care of, and Charlie's unspoken concern caught me by surprise.**

Esme and Carlisle smiled at me.

**I was standing by the back corner of the truck, struggling to fight back the sudden wave of emotion the snow chains had brought on, when I heard an odd sound. It was a high-pitched screech, and it was fast becoming painfully loud. I looked up, startled.**

Edward groaned. Esme and Carlisle looked at him questioningly.

"You'll see…" he said.

**I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way it does in the movies. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work much faster, and I was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once.**

**Edward Cullen was standing four cars down from me, staring at me in horror. His face stood out from a sea of faces, all frozen in the same mask of shock. But of more immediate importance was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of my truck, and I was standing between them. I didn't even have time to close my eyes.**

"Oh no!" Esme gasped. I smiled at her warmly.

**Just before I heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around the truck bed, something hit me, hard, but not from the direction I was expecting.**

"And cue Edward Cullen," Alice laughed.

**My head cracked against the icy blacktop, and I felt something solid and cold pinning me to the ground. I was lying on the pavement behind the tan car I'd parked next to. But I didn't have a chance to notice anything else, because the van was still coming. It had curled gratingly around the end of the truck and, still spinning and sliding, was about to collide with me again.**

**A low oath made me aware that someone was with me, **

"Edward," Esme scolded.

"I'm sorry, mom. I was kind of preoccupied with keeping the van away from her, though." He smiled sheepishly. Esme smiled, and nodded understandingly.

**and the voice was impossible not to recognize. Two long, white hands shot out protectively in front of me, and the van shuddered to a stop a foot from my face, the large hands fitting providentially into a deep dent in the side of the van's body.**

**Then his hands moved so fast they blurred. One was suddenly gripping under the body of the van, and something was dragging me, swinging my legs around like a rag doll's, till they hit the tire of the tan car. A groaning metallic thud hurt my ears, and the van settled, glass popping, onto the asphalt — exactly where, a second ago, my legs had been.**

**It was absolutely silent for one long second before the screaming began. In the abrupt bedlam, I could hear more than one person shouting my name. But more clearly than all the yelling, I could hear Edward Cullen's low, frantic voice in my ear.**

"Awwwww, Eddie was frantic!" Alice sighed. Edward rolled his eyes.

**"Bella? Are you all right?"**

**"I'm fine." My voice sounded strange. I tried to sit up, and realized he was holding me against the side of his body in an iron grasp.**

**"Be careful," he warned as I struggled. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."**

**I became aware of a throbbing ache centered above my left ear.**

**"Ow," I said, surprised.**

Emmett laughed while Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper chuckled quietly.

**"That's what I thought." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter.**

**"How in the…" I trailed off, trying to clear my head, get my bearings. "How did you get over here so fast?"**

**"I was standing right next to you, Bella," he said, his tone serious again.**

**I turned to sit up, and this time he let me, releasing his hold around my waist and sliding as far from me as he could in the limited space. I looked at his concerned, innocent expression and was disoriented again by the force of his gold-colored eyes.**

**What was I asking him?**

Everyone laughed at that.

"Oh, Bella…" Edward sighed. I blushed.

"Shut up," I mumbled. Esme smiled at me, and I continued reading, trying to ignore the laughter.

**And then they found us, a crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces, shouting at each other, shouting at us.**

**"Don't move," someone instructed.**

**"Get Tyler out of the van!" someone else shouted.**

**There was a flurry of activity around us. I tried to get up, but Edward's cold hand pushed my shoulder down.**

**"Just stay put for now."**

**"But it's cold," I complained. **

Edward rolled his eyes. "Of all the things to worry about."

**It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath. There was an edge to the sound.**

**"You were over there," I suddenly remembered, and his chuckle stopped short. "You were by your car."**

**His expression turned hard. "No, I wasn't."**

**"I saw you." All around us was chaos. I could hear the gruffer voices of adults arriving on the scene. But I obstinately held on to our argument; I was right, and he was going to admit it.**

"So stubborn," Edward sighed.

**"Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way." He unleashed the full, devastating power of his eyes on me, as if trying to communicate something crucial.**

**"No." I set my jaw.**

**The gold in his eyes blazed. "Please, Bella."**

**"Why?" I demanded.**

**"Trust me," he pleaded, his soft voice overwhelming.**

**I could hear the sirens now. "Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"**

**"Fine," he snapped, abruptly exasperated.**

**"Fine," I repeated angrily.**

**It took six EMTs and two teachers — Mr. Varner and Coach Clapp — to shift the van far enough away from us to bring the stretchers in. Edward vehemently refused his, and I tried to do the same, but the traitor told them I'd hit my head and probably had a concussion.**

**I almost died of humiliation when they put on the neck brace. It looked like the entire school was there, watching soberly as they loaded me in the back of the ambulance. Edward got to ride in the front. It was maddening.**

Everyone laughed causing me to blush which, in turn, caused Edward to kiss my cheek.

**To make matters worse, Chief Swan arrived before they could get me safely away.**

**"Bella!" he yelled in panic when he recognized me on the stretcher.**

**"I'm completely fine, Char — Dad," I sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."**

**He turned to the closest EMT for a second opinion. I tuned him out to consider the jumble of inexplicable images churning chaotically in my head. When they'd lifted me away from the car, I had seen the deep dent in the tan car's bumper — a very distinct dent that fit the contours of Edward's shoulders… as if he had braced himself against the car with enough force to damage the metal frame…**

**And then there was his family, looking on from the distance, with expressions that ranged from disapproval to fury, but held no hint of concern for their brother's safety.**

**I tried to think of a logical solution that could explain what I had just seen — a solution that excluded the assumption that I was insane.**

"Got that right," Jasper agreed.

"Hey," I pouted, then I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Very mature." He agreed.

"Why, thank you." I smiled, unashamed of my little antics.

**Naturally, the ambulance got a police escort to the county hospital. I felt ridiculous the whole time they were unloading me. What made it worse was that Edward simply glided through the hospital doors under his own power. I ground my teeth together.**

**They put me in the emergency room, a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel-patterned curtains. A nurse put a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer under my tongue. Since no one bothered pulling the curtain around to give me some privacy, I decided I wasn't obligated to wear the stupid-looking neck brace anymore. **

**When the nurse walked away, I quickly unfastened the Velcro and threw it under the bed.**

"Well, I now know where to look for them if we ever run short at the hospital," Carlisle chuckled. I giggled which caused Edward to smile.

**There was another flurry of hospital personnel, another stretcher brought to the bed next to me. I recognized Tyler Crowley from my Government class beneath the bloodstained bandages wrapped tightly around his head. Tyler looked a hundred times worse than I felt. But he was staring anxiously at me.**

**"Bella, I'm so sorry!"**

**"I'm fine, Tyler — you look awful, are you all right?" As we spoke, nurses began unwinding his soiled bandages, exposing a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead and left cheek.**

**He ignored me. "I thought I was going to kill you! I was going too fast, and I hit the ice wrong…" He winced as one nurse started dabbing at his face.**

**"Don't worry about it; you missed me."**

**"How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, and then you were gone…"**

**"Umm… Edward pulled me out of the way."**

**He looked confused. "Who?"**

**"Edward Cullen — he was standing next to me." I'd always been a terrible liar; I didn't sound convincing at all.**

**"Cullen? I didn't see him… wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?"**

**"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher."**

**I knew I wasn't crazy. What had happened? There was no way to explain away what I'd seen.**

**They wheeled me away then, to X-ray my head. I told them there was nothing wrong, and I was right. Not even a concussion. **

**I asked if I could leave, but the nurse said I had to talk to a doctor first. So I was trapped in the ER, waiting, harassed by Tyler 's constant apologies and promises to make it up to me. No matter how many times I tried to convince him I was fine, he continued to torment himself. Finally, I closed my eyes and ignored him. He kept up a remorseful mumbling.**

**"Is she sleeping?" a musical voice asked. My eyes flew open.**

"Awwwww!" Alice and Esme cooed.

I blushed and rolled my eyes, while Edward smiled.

**Edward was standing at the foot of my bed, smirking. I glared at him. It wasn't easy — it would have been more natural to ogle.**

**"Hey, Edward, I'm really sorry —"Tyler began.**

**Edward lifted a hand to stop him.**

**"No blood, no foul," he said, flashing his brilliant teeth. **

**He moved to sit on the edge of Tyler 's bed, facing me. He smirked again.**

**"So, what's the verdict?" he asked me.**

**"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," I complained. "How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"**

**"It's all about who you know," he answered. "But don't worry, I came to spring you."**

**Then a doctor walked around the corner, and my mouth fell open. **

I blushed bright red, while everyone else laughed.

**He was young, he was blond… and he was handsomer than any movie star I'd ever seen. He was pale, though, and tired-looking, with circles under his eyes. From Charlie's description, this had to be Edward's father.**

**"So, Miss Swan," Dr. Cullen said in a remarkably appealing voice, "how are you feeling?"**

**"I'm fine," I said, for the last time, I hoped.**

**He walked to the light board on the wall over my head, and turned it on.**

**"Your X-rays look good," he said. "Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."**

**"It's fine," I repeated with a sigh, throwing a quick scowl toward Edward.**

**The doctor's cool fingers probed lightly along my skull. He noticed when I winced.**

**"Tender?" he asked.**

**"Not really." I'd had worse.**

**I heard a chuckle, and looked over to see Edward's patronizing smile. My eyes narrowed.**

**"Well, your father is in the waiting room — you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."**

**"Can't I go back to school?" I asked, imagining Charlie trying to be attentive.**

**"Maybe you should take it easy today."**

**I glanced at Edward. "Does he get to go to school?"**

Cue Emmett's laughter.

**"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Edward said smugly.**

**"Actually," Dr. Cullen corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."**

**"Oh no," I moaned, covering my face with my hands.**

**Dr. Cullen raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to stay?"**

**"No, no!" I insisted, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and hopping down quickly. Too quickly — I staggered, and Dr. Cullen caught me. He looked concerned.**

**"I'm fine," I assured him again. No need to tell him my balance problems had nothing to do with hitting my head.**

Naturally, everyone laughed.

**"Take some Tylenol for the pain," he suggested as he steadied me.**

**"It doesn't hurt that bad," I insisted.**

**"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Dr. Cullen said, smiling as he signed my chart with a flourish.**

**"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me," I amended with a hard glance at the subject of my statement.**

**"Oh, well, yes," Dr. Cullen agreed, suddenly occupied with the papers in front of him.**

**Then he looked away, at Tyler, and walked to the next bed. My intuition flickered; the doctor was in on it.**

"I probably could've done that better," He agreed.

**"I'm afraid that you'll have to stay with us just a little bit longer," he said to Tyler, and began checking his cuts.**

**As soon as the doctor's back was turned, I moved to Edward's side.**

**"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I hissed under my breath. He took a step back from me, his jaw suddenly clenched.**

"You were too close," Edward explained.

"I'm sorry." I apologized. He just laughed.

**"Your father is waiting for you," he said through his teeth.**

**I glanced at Dr. Cullen and Tyler.**

**"I'd like to speak with you alone, if you don't mind," I pressed.**

**He glared, and then turned his back and strode down the long room. I nearly had to run to keep up. As soon as we turned the corner into a short hallway, he spun around to face me.**

**"What do you want?" he asked, sounding annoyed. His eyes were cold.**

"Edward, you should've been nicer." Esme scolded.

"I know, mom. I'm sorry." He said.

"Don't apologize to me," She said. He turned to me.

"I'm sorry, love." I laughed and rolled my eyes. He kissed the spot below my ear, and I giggled quietly.

"You guys are too cute." Alice sighed. I blushed and continued reading.

**His unfriendliness intimidated me. My words came out with less severity than I'd intended. "You owe me an explanation," I reminded him.**

**"I saved your life — I don't owe you anything."**

**I flinched back from the resentment in his voice. "You promised."**

**"Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about." His tone was cutting.**

**My temper flared now, and I glared defiantly at him. "There's nothing wrong with my head."**

**He glared back. "What do you want from me, Bella?"**

**"I want to know the truth," I said. "I want to know why I'm lying for you."**

**"What do you think happened?" he snapped.**

**It came out in a rush.**

**"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me —Tyler didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both — and it didn't, and your hands left dents in the side of it — and you left a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all — and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up…" I could hear how crazy it sounded, and I couldn't continue. I was so mad I could feel the tears coming; I tried to force them back by grinding my teeth together.**

**He was staring at me incredulously. But his face was tense, defensive.**

**"You think I lifted a van off you?" His tone questioned my sanity, but it only made me more suspicious. It was like a perfectly delivered line by a skilled actor.**

**I merely nodded once, jaw tight.**

**"Nobody will believe that, you know." His voice held an edge of derision now.**

"Way to not admit it, Edward." Rose laughed.

**"I'm not going to tell anybody." I said each word slowly, carefully controlling my anger.**

**Surprise flitted across his face. **

**"Then why does it matter?"**

**"It matters to me," I insisted. "I don't like to lie — so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it."**

"That was such a good reason, too. I hated that I couldn't just tell you." He sighed. I smiled at him, shaking my head.

**"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"**

**"Thank you." I waited, fuming and expectant.**

**"You're not going to let it go, are you?"**

**"No."**

**"In that case… I hope you enjoy disappointment."**

**We scowled at each other in silence. I was the first to speak, trying to keep myself focused. I was in danger of being distracted by his livid, glorious face. It was like trying to stare down a destroying angel.**

Emmett snickered.

**"Why did you even bother?" I asked frigidly.**

**He paused, and for a brief moment his stunning face was unexpectedly vulnerable.**

**"I don't know," he whispered.**

**And then he turned his back on me and walked away.**

**I was so angry, it took me a few minutes until I could move. When I could walk, I made my way slowly to the exit at the end of the hallway.**

**The waiting room was more unpleasant than I'd feared. It seemed like every face I knew in Forks was there, staring at me. Charlie rushed to my side; I put up my hands.**

**"There's nothing wrong with me," I assured him sullenly. I was still aggravated, not in the mood for chitchat.**

**"What did the doctor say?"**

**"Dr. Cullen saw me, and he said I was fine and I could go home." I sighed. Mike and Jessica and Eric were all there, beginning to converge on us. "Let's go," I urged. **

**Charlie put one arm behind my back, not quite touching me, and led me to the glass doors of the exit. I waved sheepishly at my friends, hoping to convey that they didn't need to worry anymore. It was a huge relief— the first time I'd ever felt that way — to get into the cruiser.**

**We drove in silence. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I barely knew Charlie was there. I was positive that Edward's defensive behavior in the hall was a confirmation of the bizarre things I still could hardly believe I'd witnessed.**

**When we got to the house, Charlie finally spoke.**

**"Um… you'll need to call Renée." He hung his head, guilty.**

**I was appalled. "You told Mom!"**

**"Sorry."**

**I slammed the cruiser's door a little harder than necessary on my way out.**

Emmett laughed boisterously.

**My mom was in hysterics, of course. I had to tell her I felt fine at least thirty times before she would calm down. She begged me to come home — forgetting the fact that home was empty at the moment — but her pleas were easier to resist than I would have thought. I was consumed by the mystery Edward presented. And more than a little obsessed by Edward himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I wasn't as eager to escape Forks as I should be, as any normal, sane person would be.**

**I decided I might as well go to bed early that night. Charlie continued to watch me anxiously, and it was getting on my nerves. I stopped on my way to grab three Tylenol from the bathroom. They did help, and, as the pain eased, I drifted to sleep.**

**That was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.**

"Aww," Alice and Esme cooed.

I blushed. Edward just chuckled, smiling brightly at me.

"Let's read the next chapter now!" Edward said excitedly.

"Woah, Eddies a little excited there." Emmett laughed.

"Shut up, Emmett. I just want to know what she's thinking." Edward said, but you could tell he'd be blushing if he could.

"Okay, enough boys, let's read." Esme smiled at me.

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	6. Chapter 6 Invitations 3rd person POV

**Hey guys! Thanks for all of the reviews! Made my day (: **

_**IMPORTANT! **_**I'm switching the POV!!! Instead of Bella, it's going to be 3****rd**** person. It's easier and this way I can add thought that aren't said aloud besides Bella's, kay? **

**In return, here's another chapter for you! PLEASE REVIEW(:**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing **

**"Invitations," **Bella started.

**In my dream it was very dark,**

"Yay! We get to see what little Bella Wella dreams about our 'perfect' Eddie Weddie!" Emmett teased. Bella blushed.

"Emmett, hush." Esme scolded, while Rose slapped him on the head. He pouted, but everyone ignored him.

**and what dim light there was seemed to be radiating from Edward's skin. I couldn't see his face, just his back as he walked away from me, leaving me in the blackness. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up to him; no matter how loud I called, he never turned.**

**Troubled, I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep again for what seemed like a very long time. After that, he was in my dreams nearly every night, but always on the periphery, never within reach.**

"Oh, poor Bella, dear." Esme sighed.

"I agree with Esme, that really would be kind of horrible, and a bit depressing." Alice smiled.

**The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing.**

Of course, Emmett laughed, but Jasper joined in with a few quiet chuckles of his own.

**To my dismay, I found myself the center of attention for the rest of that week. Tyler Crowley was impossible, following me around, **

Edward growled at this. '_Stupid Tyler_…' he thought. Bella squeezed his hand and he instantly calmed.

**obsessed with making amends to me somehow. I tried to convince him what I wanted more than anything else was for him to forget all about it — especially since nothing had actually happened to me — but he remained insistent. **

**He followed me between classes and sat at our now-crowded lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other, which made me worry that I'd gained another unwelcome fan.**

Emmett, and Jasper laughed.

"I really don't understand why you wouldn't like all the attention, Bella." Rose said quietly.

"It was embarrassing…" Bella said, her cheeks burned as if to prove her point.

**No one seemed concerned about Edward, though I explained over and over that he was the hero — how he had pulled me out of the way and had nearly been crushed, too. I tried to be convincing. Jessica, Mike, Eric, and everyone else always commented that they hadn't even seen him there till the van was pulled away.**

"I was honestly surprised that you had told them the story I told you." Edward smiled at Bella.

"We all were, dude." Emmett added.

"Dude?" Rose asked, rolling her eyes.

"What?" He said innocently. Everyone ignored him yet again.

**I wondered to myself why no one else had seen him standing so far away, before he was suddenly, impossibly saving my life. **

**With chagrin, I realized the probable cause — no one else was as aware of Edward as I always was. No one else watched him the way I did. How pitiful.**

Bella blushed at this, which caused Emmett to laugh, and Edward to throw a couch cushion at him. He pouted while we all laughed.

"It's not pitiful, love." Edward reassured. She smiled at him and continued reading.

**Edward was never surrounded by crowds of curious bystanders eager for his firsthand account. People avoided him as usual. The Cullens and the Hales sat at the same table as always, not eating, talking only among themselves. None of them, especially Edward, glanced my way anymore.**

"Aww, poor wittle Bewwa was sad because wittle Eddie ignored her, poor Bewwa." Emmett teased, laughing boisterously.

"Emmett, leave them alone." Esme scolded.

"Yeah," Edward agreed. Bella took that as her cue to keep reading.

**When he sat next to me in class, as far from me as the table would allow, he seemed totally unaware of my presence. **

**Only now and then, when his fists would suddenly ball up — skin stretched even whiter over the bones — did I wonder if he wasn't quite as oblivious as he appeared.**

"Oh, I wasn't. I was _very _aware of you." Edward informed. Bella smiled at him, and a little giggle escaped her mouth.

**He wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler 's van — there was no other conclusion I could come to.**

Edward looked at Bella, "I still have absolutely NO idea how you could possibly think that!" Edward said incredulously.

"Well, what was I supposed to think? You saved me, then with what happened in the hospital, and then you ignored me. It was the only thing I could think of." Bella defended.

**I wanted very much to talk to him, and the day after the accident I tried. The last time I'd seen him, outside the ER, we'd both been so furious. I still was angry that he wouldn't trust me with the truth, even though I was keeping my part of the bargain flawlessly. But he had in fact saved my life, no matter how he'd done it. And, overnight, the heat of my anger faded into awed gratitude.**

**He was already seated when I got to Biology, looking straight ahead. I sat down, expecting him to turn toward me. He showed no sign that he realized I was there.**

**"Hello, Edward," I said pleasantly, to show him I was going to behave myself.**

**He turned his head a fraction toward me without meeting my gaze, nodded once, and then looked the other way.**

"Edward, that was very rude!" Esme said.

"Sorry, mom!" Edward said, hanging his head.

"You best be." Esme said jokingly, smiling and winking at Bella.

**And that was the last contact I'd had with him, though he was there, a foot away from me, every day. I watched him sometimes, unable to stop myself— from a distance, though, in the cafeteria or parking lot. I watched as his golden eyes grew perceptibly darker day by day. **

**But in class I gave no more notice that he existed than he showed toward me. I was miserable. And the dreams continued.**

Emmett opened his mouth to say something, or possibly laugh, but closed it when he saw the dark glare Edward was shooting him.

**Despite my outright lies, the tenor of my e-mails alerted Renée to my depression,** **and she called a few times, worried. I tried to convince her it was just the weather that had me down.**

**Mike, at least, was pleased by the obvious coolness between me and my lab partner. I could see he'd been worried that Edward's daring rescue might have impressed me, and he was relieved that it seemed to have the opposite effect. He grew more confident, sitting on the edge of my table to talk before Biology class started, ignoring Edward as completely as he ignored us.**

**The snow washed away for good after that one dangerously icy day. Mike was disappointed he'd never gotten to stage his snowball fight, but pleased that the beach trip would soon be possible. The rain continued heavily, though, and the weeks passed.**

**Jessica made me aware of another event looming on the horizon — she called the first Tuesday of March to ask my permission to invite Mike to the girls' choice spring dance in two weeks.**

**"Are you sure you don't mind… you weren't planning to ask him?" she persisted when I told her I didn't mind in the least.**

**"No, Jess, I'm not going," I assured her. Dancing was glaringly outside my range of abilities.**

Everyone, besides Carlisle, Esme, Edward, and Bella, laughed.

**"It will be really fun." Her attempt to convince me was halfhearted. I suspected that Jessica enjoyed my inexplicable popularity more than my actual company.**

"She did." Edward confirmed.

"Well, that just makes me feel _great_." Bella sighed. Edward hugged her close for a moment.

**"You have fun with Mike," I encouraged.**

**The next day, I was surprised that Jessica wasn't her usual gushing self in Trig and Spanish. **

**She was silent as she walked by my side between classes, and I was afraid to ask her why. If Mike had turned her down, I was the last person she would want to tell.**

**My fears were strengthened during lunch when Jessica sat as far from Mike as possible, chatting animatedly with Eric. Mike was unusually quiet.**

**Mike was still quiet as he walked me to class, the uncomfortable look on his face a bad sign. But he didn't broach the subject until I was in my seat and he was perched on my desk. As always, I was electrically aware of Edward sitting close enough to touch, as distant as if he were merely an invention of my imagination.**

**"So," Mike said, looking at the floor, "Jessica asked me to the spring dance."**

**"That's great." I made my voice bright and enthusiastic. "You'll have a lot of fun with Jessica."**

"REJECTED!!! RE-JE-CT-ED!" Emmett cheered, laughing. Everyone threw him weird looks, while Rose just shook her head at his antics.

**"Well…" He floundered as he examined my smile, clearly not happy with my response.**

**"I told her I had to think about it."**

**"Why would you do that?" I let disapproval color my tone, though I was relieved he hadn't given her an absolute no.**

**His face was bright red as he looked down again. **

Edward laughed, and Bella slapped him playfully, but couldn't stop the grin from spreading across her face.

**Pity shook my resolve.**

"I swear Bella, sometimes you're too nice for your own good." Edward sighed. Bella stuck her tongue out at him.

"Very mature, love." He teased.

"I know, right?" She said.

**"I was wondering if… well, if you might be planning to ask me."**

**I paused for a moment, hating the wave of guilt that swept through me. But I saw, from the corner of my eye, Edward's head tilt reflexively in my direction.**

Edward looked as if he would blush if he could.

**"Mike, I think you should tell her yes," I said.**

**"Did you already ask someone?" Did Edward notice how Mike's eyes flickered in his direction?**

**"No," I assured him. "I'm not going to the dance at all."**

**"Why not?" Mike demanded.**

**I didn't want to get into the safety hazards that dancing presented, so I quickly made new plans.**

**"I'm going to Seattle that Saturday," I explained. **

**I needed to get out of town anyway — it was suddenly the perfect time to go.**

**"Can't you go some other weekend?"**

**"Sorry, no," I said. "So you shouldn't make Jess wait any longer — it's rude."**

**"Yeah, you're right," he mumbled, and turned, dejected, to walk back to his seat. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to push the guilt and sympathy out of my head. Mr. Banner began talking. I sighed and opened my eyes.**

**And Edward was staring at me curiously, that same, familiar edge of frustration even more distinct now in his black eyes.**

"I was trying to figure out why you had really turned him down. It drove me positively _crazy_." He chuckled.

"Ha ha." Bella said, childishly.

**I stared back, surprised, expecting him to look quickly away. But instead he continued to gaze with probing intensity into my eyes. There was no question of me looking away.**

**My hands started to shake.**

**"Mr. Cullen?" the teacher called, seeking the answer to a question that I hadn't heard.**

**"The Krebs Cycle," Edward answered, seeming reluctant as he turned to look at Mr. Banner.**

**I looked down at my book as soon as his eyes released me, trying to find my place.**

**Cowardly as ever, I shifted my hair over my right shoulder to hide my face. I couldn't believe the rush of emotion pulsing through me — just because he'd happened to look at me for the first time in a half-dozen weeks. I couldn't allow him to have this level of influence over me. It was pathetic. More than pathetic, it was unhealthy.**

"It is very unhealthy." Edward agreed.

"Oh, hush up, Edward." Alice said. Bella laughed.

**I tried very hard not to be aware of him for the rest of the hour, and, since that was impossible, at least not to let him know that I was aware of him. **

**When the bell rang at last, I turned my back to him to gather my things, expecting him to leave immediately as usual.**

**"Bella?" His voice shouldn't have been so familiar to me, as if I'd known the sound of it all my life rather than for just a few short weeks.**.

"Aww!" Alice and Esme cooed. Bella blushed and hid her face behind the book, ignoring them.

**I turned slowly, unwillingly. I didn't want to feel what I knew I would feel when I looked at his too-perfect face. My expression was wary when I finally turned to him; his expression was unreadable. He didn't say anything.**

**"What? Are you speaking to me again?" I finally asked, an unintentional note of petulance in my voice.**

**His lips twitched, fighting a smile. "No, not really," he admitted.**

"How nice, and unconfusing, Edward." Alice laughed.

"Tell me about it," Bella agreed.

**I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly through my nose, aware that I was gritting my teeth. He waited.**

**"Then what do you want, Edward?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed; it was easier to talk to him coherently that way.**

**"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere. "I'm being very rude, I know. But it's better this way, really."**

**I opened my eyes. His face was very serious.**

**"I don't know what you mean," I said, my voice guarded.**

**"It's better if we're not friends," he explained. "Trust me."**

**My eyes narrowed. I'd heard that before.**

"Edward's dumb." Emmett laughed, "He obviously doesn't know how to talk to women."

"Shut up!" Edward hissed.

**"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier," I hissed through my teeth. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."**

**"Regret?" The word, and my tone, obviously caught him off guard. "Regret for what?"**

**"For not just letting that stupid van squish me."**

**He was astonished. He stared at me in disbelief.**

"Well, yeah! The love of my life just said she thought I regretted saving her life! Of course I was astonished!" Edward said.

"Calm down," Bella laughed.

**When he finally spoke, he almost sounded mad. "You think I regret saving your life?"**

**"I know you do," I snapped.**

**"You don't know anything." He was definitely mad.**

**I turned my head sharply away from him, clenching my jaw against all the wild accusations I wanted to hurl at him. I gathered my books together, then stood and walked to the door. I meant to sweep dramatically out of the room, but of course I caught the toe of my boot on the door jamb and dropped my books. I stood there for a moment, thinking about leaving them. **

Emmett and Edward laughed.

**Then I sighed and bent to pick them up. He was there; he'd already stacked them into a pile. He handed them to me, his face hard.**

**"Thank you," I said icily.**

**His eyes narrowed.**

**"You're welcome," he retorted.**

**I straightened up swiftly, turned away from him again, and stalked off to Gym without looking back.**

**Gym was brutal. We'd moved on to basketball. My team never passed me the ball, so that was good, but I fell down a lot. Sometimes I took people with me. **

Everyone laughed at this, except Bella who blushed bright red. Even Esme and Carlisle were chuckling.

**Today I was worse than usual because my head was so filled with Edward. I tried to concentrate on my feet, but he kept creeping back into my thoughts just when I really needed my balance.**

**It was a relief, as always, to leave. I almost ran to the truck; there were just so many people I wanted to avoid. The truck had suffered only minimal damage in the accident. I'd had to replace the taillights, and if I'd had a real paint job, I would have touched that up. Tyler 's parents had to sell their van for parts.**

**I almost had a stroke when I rounded the corner and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of my truck. Then I realized it was just Eric. I started walking again.**

**"Hey, Eric," I called.**

**"Hi, Bella."**

**"What's up?" I said as I was unlocking the door. I wasn't paying attention to the uncomfortable edge in his voice, so his next words took me by surprise.**

**"Uh, I was just wondering… if you would go to the spring dance with me? " His voice broke on the last word.**

**"I thought it was girls' choice," I said,**

"Burn!" Emmett said.

**too startled to be diplomatic.**

**"Well, yeah," he admitted, shamefaced.**

**I recovered my composure and tried to make my smile warm. "Thank you for asking me, but I'm going to be in Seattle that day."**

**"Oh," he said. "Well, maybe next time."**

**"Sure," I agreed, and then bit my lip. I wouldn't want him to take that too literally.**

**He slouched off, back toward the school. I heard a low chuckle.**

**Edward was walking past the front of my truck, looking straight forward, his lips pressed together. **

"Really, Edward?" Alice said sarcastically.

"Yep." Edward said unashamed. Bella shook her head at him.

**I yanked the door open and jumped inside, slamming it loudly behind me. I revved the engine deafeningly and reversed out into the aisle. Edward was in his car already, two spaces down, sliding out smoothly in front of me, cutting me off. He stopped there — to wait for his family;**

**I could see the four of them walking this way, but still by the cafeteria. I considered taking out the rear of his shiny Volvo,** **but there were too many witnesses. I looked in my rearview mirror. A line was beginning to form. Directly behind me, Tyler Crowley was in his recently acquired used Sentra, waving. I was too aggravated to acknowledge him.**

**While I was sitting there, looking everywhere but at the car in front of me, I heard a knock on my passenger side window. I looked over; it was Tyler. I glanced back in my rearview mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open. I leaned across the cab to crank the window down. It was stiff. I got it halfway down, then gave up.**

**"I'm sorry, Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen." I was annoyed — obviously the holdup wasn't my fault.**

**"Oh, I know — I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here." He grinned.**

**This could not be happening.**

Emmett laughed. "So, _this _is why you did that!" He realized.

"Yes." Edward laughed.

**"Will you ask me to the spring dance?" he continued.**

**"I'm not going to be in town, Tyler." My voice sounded a little sharp. I had to remember it wasn't his fault that Mike and Eric had already used up my quota of patience for the day.**

**"Yeah, Mike said that," he admitted.**

**"Then why —"**

**He shrugged. "I was hoping you were just letting him down easy."**

**Okay, it was completely his fault.**

**"Sorry, Tyler," I said, working to hide my irritation. "I really am going out of town."**

**"That's cool. We still have prom."**

Bella scowled. Edward chuckled.

**And before I could respond, he was walking back to his car. I could feel the shock on my face. I looked forward to see Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper all sliding into the Volvo. In his rearview mirror, Edward's eyes were on me. He was unquestionably shaking with laughter, as if he'd heard every word Tyler had said.**

**My foot itched toward the gas pedal… one little bump wouldn't hurt any of them, just that glossy silver paint job. I revved the engine.**

"Awwwww you should've did it!" Emmett wined.

"I gotta agree with Em on that one, Bella." Alice laughed.

"I can't believe you thought that!" Edward said incredulously. Bella laughed at him.

**But they were all in, and Edward was speeding away. I drove home slowly, carefully, muttering to myself the whole way.**

**When I got home, I decided to make chicken enchiladas for dinner. It was a long process, and it would keep me busy. While I was simmering the onions and chilies, the phone rang. I was almost afraid to answer it, but it might be Charlie or my mom. **

**It was Jessica, and she was jubilant; Mike had caught her after school to accept her invitation. I celebrated with her briefly while I stirred. She had to go, she wanted to call Angela and Lauren to tell them. I suggested — with casual innocence — that maybe Angela, the shy girl who had Biology with me, could ask Eric. And Lauren, a standoffish girl who had always ignored me at the lunch table, could ask Tyler; I'd heard he was still available. **

**Jess thought that was a great idea. Now that she was sure of Mike, she actually sounded sincere when she said she wished I would go to the dance. I gave her my Seattle excuse.**

**After I hung up, I tried to concentrate on dinner — dicing the chicken especially; I didn't want to take another trip to the emergency room. But my head was spinning, trying to analyze every word Edward had spoken today. What did he mean, it was better if we weren't friends?**

**My stomach twisted as I realized what he must have meant. He must see how absorbed I was by him; he must not want to lead me on… so we couldn't even be friends… because he wasn't interested in me at all.**

"Bella, that is utterly ubsurd!" Edward said.

"Well, it made sense." She said.

**Of course he wasn't interested in me, I thought angrily, my eyes stinging — a delayed reaction to the onions. **

"Sure, Bella. Let's all pretend to believe that." Emmett said sarcastically. Bella blushed.

"Leave her alone, Emmett." Edward growled at him, hugging Bella to his side.

**I wasn't interesting. And he was. Interesting… and brilliant… and mysterious… and perfect… and beautiful… and possibly able to lift full-sized vans with one hand.**

**Well, that was fine. I could leave him alone. I would leave him alone. I would get through my self-imposed sentence here in purgatory, and then hopefully some school in the Southwest, or possibly Hawaii, would offer me a scholarship. I focused my thoughts on sunny beaches and palm trees as I finished the enchiladas and put them in the oven.**

**Charlie seemed suspicious when he came home and smelled the green peppers. I couldn't blame him — the closest edible Mexican food was probably in southern California. But he was a cop, even if just a small-town cop, so he was brave enough to take the first bite. He seemed to like it. It was fun to watch as he slowly began trusting me in the kitchen.**

**"Dad?" I asked when he was almost done.**

**"Yeah, Bella?"**

**"Um, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to Seattle for the day a week from Saturday… if that's okay?" I didn't want to ask permission — it set a bad precedent — but I felt rude, so I tacked it on at the end.**

**"Why?" He sounded surprised, as if he were unable to imagine something that Forks couldn't offer.**

**"Well, I wanted to get few books — the library here is pretty limited — and maybe look at some clothes." I had more money than I was used to having, since, thanks to Charlie, I hadn't had to pay for a car. Not that the truck didn't cost me quite a bit in the gas department.**

**"That truck probably doesn't get very good gas mileage," he said, echoing my thoughts.**

**"I know, I'll stop in Montesano and Olympia — and Tacoma if I have to."**

**"Are you going all by yourself?" he asked, and I couldn't tell if he was suspicious I had a secret boyfriend or just worried about car trouble.**

**"Yes."**

**"Seattle is a big city — you could get lost," he fretted.**

**"Dad, Phoenix is five times the size of Seattle — and I can read a map, don't worry about it."**

**"Do you want me to come with you?"**

"Oh God no!" Alice said, horrified. Everyone laughed at her.

**I tried to be crafty as I hid my horror.**

**"That's all right, Dad, I'll probably just be in dressing rooms all day — very boring."**

**"Oh, okay." The thought of sitting in women's clothing stores for any period of time immediately put him off.**

**"Thanks." I smiled at him.**

**"Will you be back in time for the dance?"**

**Grrr. **

"HAHAHA Really Bella?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah." Bella said.

**Only in a town this small would a father know when the high school dances were.**

**"No — I don't dance, Dad." He, of all people, should understand that — I didn't get my balance problems from my mother.**

**He did understand. "Oh, that's right," he realized.**

**The next morning, when I pulled into the parking lot, I deliberately parked as far as possible from the silver Volvo. I didn't want to put myself in the path of too much temptation and end up owing him a new car. **

**Getting out of the cab, I fumbled with my key and it fell into a puddle at my feet. As I bent to get it, a white hand flashed out and grabbed it before I could. **

**I jerked upright. Edward Cullen was right next to me, leaning casually against my truck.**

**"How do you do that?" I asked in amazed irritation.**

**"Do what?" He held my key out as he spoke. As I reached for it, he dropped it into my palm.**

**"Appear out of thin air."**

**"Bella, it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant." His voice was quiet as usual — velvet, muted.**

"Damn, Edward. What a lie." Jasper laughed. Edward grinned.

**I scowled at his perfect face. **

Emmett and Jasper laughed, until Esme scolded them.

**His eyes were light again today, a deep, golden honey color. Then I had to look down, to reassemble my now-tangled thoughts.**

Edward chuckled.

**"Why the traffic jam last night?" I demanded, still looking away. "I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don't exist, not irritating me to death."**

**"That was for Tyler 's sake, not mine. I had to give him his chance." He snickered.**

**"You…" I gasped. I couldn't think of a bad enough word. It felt like the heat of my anger should physically burn him, but he only seemed more amused.**

**"And I'm not pretending you don't exist," he continued.**

**"So you are trying to irritate me to death? Since Tyler 's van didn't do the job?"**

**Anger flashed in his tawny eyes. His lips pressed into a hard line, all signs of humor gone.**

**"Bella, you are utterly absurd," he said, his low voice cold.**

**My palms tingled — I wanted so badly to hit something. I was surprised at myself. I was usually a nonviolent person. **

"Woah, Bella. Let's not commit any murders, now." Edward teased his love. She blushed.

**I turned my back and started to walk away.**

"Denied." Emmett laughed.

**"Wait," he called. I kept walking, sloshing angrily through the rain. But he was next to me, easily keeping pace.**

**"I'm sorry, that was rude," he said as we walked. I ignored him. "I'm not saying it isn't true," he continued, "but it was rude to say it, anyway."**

**"Why won't you leave me alone?" I grumbled.**

**"I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me," he chuckled. He seemed to have recovered his good humor.**

**"Do you have a multiple personality disorder?" I asked severely.**

"I guess it did kind of seem that way, huh?" Edward grimaced.

**"You're doing it again."**

**I sighed." Fine then. What do you want to ask?"**

**"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday — you know, the day of the spring dance —"**

**"Are you trying to be funny?" I interrupted him, wheeling toward him. My face got drenched as I looked up at his expression.**

**His eyes were wickedly amused. "Will you please allow me to finish?"**

"Wickedly?" Edward asked. Bella shrugged.

**I bit my lip and clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers, so I couldn't do anything rash.**

**"I heard you say you were going to Seattle that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride."**

**That was unexpected.**

**"What?" I wasn't sure what he was getting at.**

**"Do you want a ride to Seattle?"**

**"With who?" I asked, mystified.**

"Who did you think?" Emmett laughed loudly while Bella blushed.

**"Myself, obviously." He enunciated every syllable, as if he were talking to someone mentally handicapped.**

**I was still stunned. "Why?"**

**"Well, I was planning to go to Seattle in the next few weeks, and, to be honest, I'm not sure if your truck can make it."**

**"My truck works just fine, thank you very much for your concern." I started to walk again, but I was too surprised to maintain the same level of anger.**

**"But can your truck make it there on one tank of gas?" He matched my pace again.**

**"I don't see how that is any of your business." Stupid, shiny Volvo owner.**

Everyone laughed at this while Edward pouted.

"I'm seriously using that one day!" Emmett laughed.

"Yeah!" Alice agreed.

**"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."**

**"Honestly, Edward." I felt a thrill go through me as I said his name, **

"Aww," Alice sighed.

**and I hated it. "I can't keep up with you. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."**

**"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."**

**"Oh, thanks, now that's all cleared up." Heavy sarcasm. **

**I realized I had stopped walking again. We were under the shelter of the cafeteria roof now, so I could more easily look at is face. Which certainly didn't help my clarity of thought.**

**"It would be more…prudent for you not to be my friend," he explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella."**

"Aww!" Alice and Esme beamed.

**His eyes were gloriously intense as he uttered that last sentence, his voice smoldering. I couldn't remember how to breathe.**

"Oh, Bella." Edward laughed.

**"Will you go with me to Seattle?" he asked, still intense.**

**I couldn't speak yet, so I just nodded.**

**He smiled briefly, and then his face became serious.**

**"You really should stay away from me," he warned. "I'll see you in class."**

**He turned abruptly and walked back the way we'd come.**

"Goodness, talk about mood swings Edward." Rose laughed. Edward just shrugged.

"Well, let's continue, Shall we?" Carlisle said, clearly he was enjoying the story too.

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	7. Chapter 7 Blood Type

Here's the next chapter!! Please review!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

3rd POV

* * *

**"Blood Type," **Bella started, then blushed slightly at the realization of what was likely to happen in this chapter.

**I made my way to English in a daze. I didn't even realize when I first walked in that class had already started.**

"Woah. Good job, Bella!" came Emmett's sarcastic statement. Bella just shrugged.

**"Thank you for joining us, Miss Swan," Mr. Mason said in a disparaging tone. **

**I flushed and hurried to my seat.**

**It wasn't till class ended that I realized Mike wasn't sitting in his usual seat next to me. I felt a twinge of guilt. But he and Eric both met me at the door as usual, so I figured I wasn't totally unforgiven. Mike seemed to become more himself as we walked, gaining enthusiasm as he talked about the weather report for this weekend. The rain was supposed to take a minor break, and so maybe his beach trip would be possible. I tried to sound eager, to make up for disappointing him yesterday.**

**It was hard; rain or no rain, it would still only be in the high forties, if we were lucky.**

**The rest of the morning passed in a blur. It was difficult to believe that I hadn't just imagined what Edward had said, and the way his eyes had looked. Maybe it was just a very convincing dream that I'd confused with reality. That seemed more probable than that I really appealed to him on any level.**

"Bella, you really don't see yourself clearly…" Edward sighed.

"I'm sorry?" Bella responded, although it sounded as a question, which matched her somewhat confused expression.

"Silly Bella." He chuckled, then kissed her forhead.

**So I was impatient and frightened as Jessica and I entered the cafeteria. I wanted to see his face, to see if he'd gone back to the cold, indifferent person I'd known for the last several weeks. Or if, by some miracle, I'd really heard what I thought I'd heard this morning. Jessica babbled on and on about her dance plans — Lauren and Angela had asked the other boys and they were all going together — completely unaware of my inattention.**

**Disappointment flooded through me as my eyes unerringly focused on his table. The other four were there, but he was absent. **

"Aww!" Alice cooed. Bella and Edward rolled their eyes, but otherwise ignored her.

**Had he gone home? I followed the still-babbling Jessica through the line, crushed. I'd lost my appetite — I bought nothing but a bottle of lemonade. I just wanted to go sit down and sulk.**

"Aww!" Alice sighed, _again_.

"Alice, really? Is that necessary?" Bella asked.

"It is absolutely positively necessary, Bella." Alice stated seriously. Bella sighed and continued reading.

**"Edward Cullen is staring at you again," Jessica said, finally breaking through my abstraction with his name. "I wonder why he's sitting alone today."**

**My head snapped up. **

Alice and Esme 'aww'ed again, while Emmett laughed and Bella blushed fiercely.

**I followed her gaze to see Edward, smiling crookedly, staring at me from an empty table across the cafeteria from where he usually sat. Once he'd caught my eye, he raised one hand and motioned with his index finger for me to join him. As I stared in disbelief, he winked.**

"Good one, Eddie." Emmett complimented, while Esme beamed at Edward.

"Thank you, but DON'T call me Eddie, Emmy Bear." Edward stated smugly.

"Hmph." Emmett pouted. Bella laughed.

**"Does he mean you?" Jessica asked with insulting astonishment in her voice.**

"Stupid bitch.." Edward said.

"Edward Cullen!" Esme and Bella yelled at the same time, although Bella had a teasing edge to her voice while Esme was 100% serious.

"Sorry! But, mom, do you blame me?" He asked.

"…no." Esme sighed.

"Exactly." Edward stated smugly. Bella playfully slapped him.

"Hey! Don't talk to Esme like that." She sighed.

"Like what?" He asked innocently.

"'Exactly'. You said it all smug and sarcastic like. Don't do that." Bella said.

"Okay." He sighed, knowing it was a lost cause, and Bella would win any way. She smiled mugly at him.

"Good."

*cough* "Whipped." *cough* Emmett said, then looked around innocently while Edward growled at him. Bella took this as her cue to read again.

**"Maybe he needs help with his Biology homework," I muttered for her benefit. "Um, I'd better go see what he wants."**

**I could feel her staring after me as I walked away.**

**When I reached his table, I stood behind the chair across from him, unsure.**

**"Why don't you sit with me today?" he asked, smiling.**

**I sat down automatically, watching him with caution. He was still smiling. It was hard to believe that someone so beautiful could be real. I was afraid that he might disappear in a sudden puff of smoke, and I would wake up.**

Emmett and Jasper laughed loudly.

"I may be a vampire, Bella, but I assure you I won't just vanish in a puff of smoke." Edward laughed.

"Shut up," Bella muttered, blushing.

**He seemed to be waiting for me to say something.**

**"This is different," I finally managed.**

**"Well…" He paused, and then the rest of the words followed in a rush. "I decided as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."**

**I waited for him to say something that made sense. The seconds ticked by.**

Everyone, excluding Bella, who blushed, laughed at this.

**"You know I don't have any idea what you mean," I eventually pointed out.**

**"I know." He smiled again, and then he changed the subject. "I think your friends are angry with me for stealing you."**

**"They'll survive." I could feel their stares boring into my back.**

**"I may not give you back, though," he said with a wicked glint in his eyes.**

**I gulped.**

**He laughed. "You look worried."**

**"No," I said, but, ridiculously, my voice broke. "Surprised, actually… what brought all this on?"**

**"I told you — I got tired of trying to stay away from you. So I'm giving up." He was still smiling, but his ocher eyes were serious.**

**"Giving up?" I repeated in confusion.**

**"Yes — giving up trying to be good. I'm just going to do what I want now, and let the chips fall where they may." His smile faded as he explained, and a hard edge crept into his voice.**

**"You lost me again."**

**The breathtaking crooked smile reappeared.**

**"I always say too much when I'm talking to you — that's one of the problems."**

**"Don't worry — I don't understand any of it," I said wryly.**

**"I'm counting on that."**

**"So, in plain English, are we friends now?"**

**"Friends…" he mused, dubious.**

**"Or not," I muttered.**

"Edward, stop being so rude." Esme scolded.

"Sorry," He sighed.

**He grinned. "Well, we can try, I suppose. But I'm warning you now that I'm not a good friend for you."**

**Behind his smile, the warning was real.**

**"You say that a lot," I noted, trying to ignore the sudden trembling in my stomach and keep my voice even.**

**"Yes, because you're not listening to me. I'm still waiting for you to believe it. If you're smart, you'll avoid me."**

**"I think you've made your opinion on the subject of my intellect clear, too." My eyes narrowed.**

"You know, I didn't mean it like that, love," Edward reassured.

"Yeah, well, I know that _now_." Bella laughed.

**He smiled apologetically.**

"You'd better," Esme smiled.

**"So, as long as I'm being… not smart, we'll try to be friends?" I struggled to sum up the confusing exchange.**

**"That sounds about right."**

**I looked down at my hands wrapped around the lemonade bottle, not sure what to do now.**

**"What are you thinking?" he asked curiously.**

**I looked up into his deep gold eyes, became befuddled, and, as usual, blurted out the truth.**

**"I'm trying to figure out what you are."**

**His jaw tightened, but he kept his smile in place with some effort.**

**"Are you having any luck with that?" he asked in an offhand tone.**

**"Not too much," I admitted.**

**He chuckled. "What are your theories?"**

**I blushed. I had been vacillating during the last month between Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker. **

"Oh, come on!" Emmett burst out laughing. Bella blushed.

**There was no way I was going to own up to that.**

**"Won't you tell me?" he asked, tilting his head to one side with a shockingly tempting smile.**

**I shook my head. "Too embarrassing."**

**"That's really frustrating, you know," he complained.**

**"No," I disagreed quickly, my eyes narrowing, "I can't imagine why that would be frustrating at all — just because someone refuses to tell you what they're thinking, even if all the while they're making cryptic little remarks specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they could possibly mean… now, why would that be frustrating?"**

**He grimaced.**

**"Or better," I continued, the pent-up annoyance flowing freely now, "say that person also did a wide range of bizarre things — from saving your life under impossible circumstances one day to treating you like a pariah the next, and he never explained any of that, either, even after he promised. That, also, would be very non-frustrating."**

"Goodness Bella. A bit angry there, huh?" Emmett laughed.

"Shut up, Em. Leave me alone." Bella laughed.

**"You've got a bit of a temper, don't you?"**

"Gee, I don't know, what was your first clue, Edward?" Alice asked sarcastically.

**"I don't like double standards."**

**We stared at each other, unsmiling.**

**He glanced over my shoulder, and then, unexpectedly, he snickered.**

**"What?"**

**"Your boyfriend seems to think I'm being unpleasant to you — he's debating whether or not to come break up our fight." He snickered again.**

**"I don't know who you're talking about," I said frostily. "But I'm sure you're wrong, anyway."**

**"I'm not. I told you, most people are easy to read."**

**"Except me, of course."**

**"Yes. Except for you." His mood shifted suddenly; his eyes turned brooding. "I wonder why that is."**

**I had to look away from the intensity of his stare. I concentrated on unscrewing the lid of my lemonade. I took a swig, staring at the table without seeing it.**

**"Aren't you hungry?" he asked, distracted.**

**"No." I didn't feel like mentioning that my stomach was already full — of butterflies. "You?" I looked at the empty table in front of him.**

"Not quite," Edward chuckled. Bella rolled her eyes.

**"No, I'm not hungry." I didn't understand his expression — it looked like he was enjoying some private joke.**

**"Can you do me a favor?" I asked after a second of hesitation.**

**He was suddenly wary. "That depends on what you want."**

**"It's not much," I assured him.**

**He waited, guarded but curious.**

**"I just wondered… if you could warn me beforehand the next time you decide to ignore me for my own good. Just so I'm prepared." I looked at the lemonade bottle as I spoke, tracing the circle of the opening with my pinkie finger.**

**"That sounds fair." He was pressing his lips together to keep from laughing when I looked up.**

**"Thanks."**

**"Then can I have one answer in return?" he demanded.**

**"One."**

"Oooh. Shouldn't have left that so open, hun." Alice laughed.

"I know," Bella grimaced.

**"Tell me one theory."**

**Whoops. **

Emmett, and a few others, laughed.

**"Not that one."**

**"You didn't qualify, you just promised one answer," he reminded me.**

**"And you've broken promises yourself," I reminded him back.**

**"Just one theory — I won't laugh."**

**"Yes, you will." I was positive about that.**

**He looked down, and then glanced up at me through his long black lashes, his ocher eyes scorching.**

**"Please?" he breathed, leaning toward me.**

**I blinked, my mind going blank. Holy crow, how did he do that?**

**"Er, what?" I asked, dazed.**

Bella blushed brightly at this while everyone around her laughed loudly.

**"Please tell me just one little theory." His eyes still smoldered at me.**

**"Um, well, bitten by a radioactive spider?" Was he a hypnotist, too? Or was I just a hopeless pushover?**

"Well, I guess I'm a hypnotist, because you are most definitely _not_ a hopeless pushover, my dear." Edward smiled. Bella just grimaced and continued on.

**"That's not very creative," he scoffed.**

**"I'm sorry, that's all I've got," I said, miffed.**

**"You're not even close," he teased.**

**"No spiders?"**

**"Nope."**

**"And no radioactivity?"**

**"None."**

**"Dang," I sighed.**

**"Kryptonite doesn't bother me, either," he chuckled.**

**"You're not supposed to laugh, remember?"**

**He struggled to compose his face.**

**"I'll figure it out eventually," I warned him.**

**"I wish you wouldn't try." He was serious again.**

**"Because…?"**

**"What if I'm not a superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?" He smiled playfully, but his eyes were impenetrable.**

**"Oh," I said, as several things he'd hinted fell suddenly into place. "I see."**

**"Do you?" His face was abruptly severe, as if he were afraid that he'd accidentally said too much.**

**"You're dangerous?" I guessed my pulse quickening as I intuitively realized the truth of my own words.**

**He was dangerous. He'd been trying to tell me that all along.**

**He just looked at me, eyes full of some emotion I couldn't comprehend.**

**"But not bad," I whispered, shaking my head. "No, I don't believe that you're bad."**

"Good." Esme beamed.

**"You're wrong." His voice was almost inaudible. He looked down, stealing my bottle lid and then spinning it on its side between his fingers. I stared at him, wondering why I didn't feel afraid. He meant what he was saying — that was obvious. But I just felt anxious, on edge… and, more than anything else, fascinated. The same way I always felt when I was near him.**

**The silence lasted until I noticed that the cafeteria was almost empty.**

**I jumped to my feet. "We're going to be late."**

**"I'm not going to class today," he said, twirling the lid so fast it was just a blur.**

**"Why not?"**

**"It's healthy to ditch class now and then." He smiled up at me, but his eyes were still troubled.**

**"Well, I'm going," I told him. I was far too big a coward to risk getting caught.**

Emmett laughed. "Always such a goody-2-shoes, huh?"

"Emmett, hush. It's a good thing to not get in trouble." Esme scolded. Bella smiled at her in thanks.

**He turned his attention back to his makeshift top. "I'll see you later, then."**

**I hesitated, torn, but then the first bell sent me hurrying out the door — with a last glance confirming that he hadn't moved a centimeter.**

**As I half-ran to class, my head was spinning faster than the bottle cap. So few questions had been answered in comparison to how many new questions had been raised. At least the rain had stopped.**

**I was lucky; Mr. Banner wasn't in the room yet when I arrived. I settled quickly into my seat, aware that both Mike and Angela were staring at me. Mike looked resentful; Angela looked surprised, and slightly awed.**

"Of course she did. The most reclusive guy in school likes you." Alice laughed.

**Mr. Banner came in the room then, calling the class to order. He was juggling a few small cardboard boxes in his arms. He put them down on Mike's table, telling him to start passing them around the class.**

**"Okay, guys, I want you all to take one piece from each box," he said as he produced a pair of rubber gloves from the pocket of his lab jacket and pulled them on. The sharp sound as the gloves snapped into place against his wrists seemed ominous to me. "The first should be an indicator card," he went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displaying it. "The second is a four-pronged applicator —" he held up something that looked like a nearly toothless hair pick "— and the third is a sterile micro-lancet." He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. The barb was invisible** **from this distance, but my stomach flipped.**

Emmett laughed. "I still can't believe you're afraid of blood!"

"That is pretty ironic Bella," Jasper agreed. Bella grimaced.

**"I'll be coming around with a dropper of water to prepare your cards, so please don't start until I get to you." He began at Mike's table again, carefully putting one drop of water in each of the four squares.**

**"Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with the lancet…" He grabbed Mike's hand and jabbed the spike into the tip of Mike's middle finger. Oh no. Clammy moisture broke out across my forehead.**

The laughter continued while Bella hid her face behind the book.

**"Put a small drop of blood on each of the prongs." He demonstrated, squeezing Mike's finger till the blood flowed. I swallowed convulsively, my stomach heaving.**

**"And then apply it to the card," he finished, holding up the dripping red card for us to see. I closed my eyes, trying to hear through the ringing in my ears.**

**"The Red Cross is having a blood drive in Port Angeles next weekend, so I thought you should all know your blood type." He sounded proud of himself. "Those of you who aren't eighteen yet will need a parent's permission — I have slips at my desk."**

**He continued through the room with his water drops. I put my cheek against the cool black tabletop and tried to hold on to my consciousness. All around me I could hear squeals, complaints, and giggles as my classmates skewered their fingers. I breathed slowly in and out through my mouth.**

**"Bella, are you all right?" Mr. Banner asked. His voice was close to my head, and it sounded alarmed.**

**"I already know my blood type, Mr. Banner," I said in a weak voice. I was afraid to raise my head.**

**"Are you feeling faint?"**

**"Yes, sir," I muttered, internally kicking myself for not ditching when I had the chance.**

**"Can someone take Bella to the nurse, please?" he called.**

**I didn't have to look up to know that it would be Mike who volunteered.**

Edward growled. "Of course…" He sighed.

**"Can you walk?" Mr. Banner asked.**

**"Yes," I whispered. Just let me get out of here, I thought. I'll crawl.**

Emmett, who was already laughing, laughed harder.

**Mike seemed eager as he put his arm around my waist and pulled my arm over his shoulder. I leaned against him heavily on the way out of the classroom.**

**Mike towed me slowly across campus. When we were around the edge of the cafeteria, out of sight of building four in case Mr. Banner was watching, I stopped.**

**"Just let me sit for a minute, please?" I begged.**

**He helped me sit on the edge of the walk.**

**"And whatever you do, keep your hand in your pocket," I warned. I was still so dizzy. I slumped over on my side, putting my cheek against the freezing, damp cement of the sidewalk, closing my eyes. That seemed to help a little.**

**"Wow, you're green, Bella," Mike said nervously.**

**"Bella?" a different voice called from the distance.**

**No! Please let me be imagining that horribly familiar voice.**

Edward, Alice, Carlisle, and Esme chuckled at that.

**"What's wrong — is she hurt?" His voice was closer now, and he sounded upset. I wasn't imagining it. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to die. Or, at the very least, not to throw up.**

"No, do it!" Emmett laughed. Bella scowled at him.

**Mike seemed stressed.**

**"I think she's fainted. I don't know what happened; she didn't even stick her finger."**

**"Bella." Edward's voice was right beside me, relieved now. **

**"Can you hear me?"**

**"No," I groaned. "Go away."**

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Edward sighed, while everyone else laughed.

**He chuckled.**

**"I was taking her to the nurse," Mike explained in a defensive tone, "but she wouldn't go any farther."**

**"I'll take her," Edward said. I could hear the smile still in his voice. "You can go back to class."**

**"No," Mike protested. "I'm supposed to do it."**

**Suddenly the sidewalk disappeared from beneath me. My eyes flew open in shock. Edward had scooped me up in his arms, as easily as if I weighed ten pounds instead of a hundred and ten.**

**"Put me down!" Please, please let me not vomit on him. **

Cue Emmett's laughter.

**He was walking before I was finished talking.**

**"Hey!" Mike called, already ten paces behind us.**

**Edward ignored him. "You look awful," he told me, grinning.**

"Wow, Edward. You're a real charmer," Alice laughed sarcastically.

"Right?" Bella said.

**"Put me back on the sidewalk," I moaned. The rocking movement of his walk was not helping. He held me away from his body, gingerly, supporting all my weight with just his arms — it didn't seem to bother him.**

**"So you faint at the sight of blood?" he asked. This seemed to entertain him.**

**I didn't answer. I closed my eyes again and fought the nausea with all my strength, clamping my lips together.**

**"And not even your own blood," he continued, enjoying himself.**

**I don't know how he opened the door while carrying me, but it was suddenly warm, so I knew we were inside.**

**"Oh my," I heard a female voice gasp.**

**"She fainted in Biology," Edward explained.**

**I opened my eyes. I was in the office, and Edward was striding past the front counter toward the nurse's door. Ms. Cope, the redheaded front office receptionist, ran ahead of him to hold it open. The grandmotherly nurse looked up from a novel, astonished, as Edward swung me into the room and placed me gently on the crackly paper that covered the brown vinyl mattress on the one cot. Then he moved to stand against the wall as far across the narrow room as possible. His eyes were bright, excited.**

**"She's just a little faint," he reassured the startled nurse. "They're blood typing in Biology."**

**The nurse nodded sagely. "There's always one."**

"Trust Bella to be that one, too." Jasper said. Bella poked her tongue out at him.

**He muffled a snicker.**

**"Just lie down for a minute, honey; it'll pass."**

**"I know," I sighed. The nausea was already fading.**

**"Does this happen a lot?" she asked.**

**"Sometimes," I admitted. Edward coughed to hide another laugh.**

Esme threw her son a stern, motherly look.

**"You can go back to class now," she told him.**

**"I'm supposed to stay with her." He said this with such assured authority that — even though she pursed her lips — the nurse didn't argue it further.**

**"I'll go get you some ice for your forehead, dear," she said to me, and then bustled out of the room.**

**"You were right," I moaned, letting my eyes close.**

**"I usually am — but about what in particular this time?"**

"Smug bastard," Emmett grumbled.

"Language, young man!" Esme scolded.

"Sorry, mom."

**"Ditching is healthy." I practiced breathing evenly.**

**"You scared me for a minute there," he admitted after a pause. His tone made it sound like he was confessing a humiliating weakness. **

**"I thought Newton was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods."**

**"Ha ha." I still had my eyes closed, but I was feeling more normal every minute.**

**"Honestly — I've seen corpses with better color. I was concerned that I might have to avenge your murder."**

**"Poor Mike. I'll bet he's mad."**

**"He absolutely loathes me," Edward said cheerfully.**

**"You can't know that," I argued, but then I wondered suddenly if he could.**

"Definitely could." Edward said.

**"I saw his face — I could tell."**

**"How did you see me? I thought you were ditching." I was almost fine now, though the queasiness would probably pass faster if I'd eaten something for lunch. On the other hand, maybe it was lucky my stomach was empty.**

**"I was in my car, listening to a CD." Such a normal response — it surprised me.**

"Hey! I can be normal," Edward pouted.

Bella laughed and kissed away his pout.

**I heard the door and opened my eyes to see the nurse with a cold compress in her hand.**

**"Here you go, dear." She laid it across my forehead. "You're looking better," she added.**

**"I think I'm fine," I said, sitting up. Just a little ringing in my ears, no spinning. The mint green walls stayed where they should.**

**I could see she was about to make me lie back down, but the door opened just then, and Ms. Cope stuck her head in.**

**"We've got another one," she warned.**

**I hopped down to free up the cot for the next invalid.**

**I handed the compress back to the nurse. "Here, I don't need this."**

**And then Mike staggered through the door, now supporting a sallow-looking Lee Stephens, another boy in our Biology class. Edward and I drew back against the wall to give them room.**

**"Oh no," Edward muttered. "Go out to the office, Bella."**

**I looked up at him, bewildered.**

**"Trust me — go."**

**I spun and caught the door before it closed, darting out of the infirmary. I could feel Edward right behind me.**

**"You actually listened to me." He was stunned.**

**"I smelled the blood," I said, wrinkling my nose. Lee wasn't sick from watching other people, like me.**

"That's abnormal," Carlisle said thoughtfully. Bella just shrugged, nonchalantly.

**"People can't smell blood," he contradicted.**

**"Well, I can — that's what makes me sick. It smells like rust… and salt."**

**He was staring at me with an unfathomable expression.**

**"What?" I asked.**

**"It's nothing."**

**Mike came through the door then, glancing from me to Edward. The look he gave Edward confirmed what Edward had said about loathing. He looked back at me, his eyes glum.**

**"You look better," he accused.**

**"Just keep your hand in your pocket," I warned him again.**

Emmett and Jasper snickered.

**"It's not bleeding anymore," he muttered. "Are you going back to class?"**

**"Are you kidding? I'd just have to turn around and come back."**

**"Yeah, I guess… So are you going this weekend? To the beach?" While he spoke, he flashed another glare toward Edward, who was standing against the cluttered counter, motionless as a sculpture, staring off into space.**

**I tried to sound as friendly as possible. "Sure, I said I was in."**

**"We're meeting at my dad's store, at ten." His eyes flickered to Edward again, wondering if he was giving out too much information. His body language made it clear that it wasn't an open invitation.**

**"I'll be there," I promised.**

**"I'll see you in Gym, then," he said, moving uncertainly toward the door.**

**"See you," I replied. He looked at me once more, his round face slightly pouting, and then as he walked slowly through the door, his shoulders slumped. A swell of sympathy washed over me. I pondered seeing his disappointed face again… in Gym.**

**"Gym," I groaned.**

**"I can take care of that." I hadn't noticed Edward moving to my side, but he spoke now in my ear. "Go sit down and look pale," he muttered.**

**That wasn't a challenge; I was always pale, and my recent swoon had left a light sheen of sweat on my face. I sat in one of the creaky folding chairs and rested my head against the wall with my eyes closed.**

**Fainting spells always exhausted me.**

**I heard Edward speaking softly at the counter.**

**"Ms. Cope?"**

**"Yes?" I hadn't heard her return to her desk.**

**"Bella has Gym next hour, and I don't think she feels well enough. Actually, I was thinking I should take her home now. Do you think you could excuse her from class?" His voice was like melting honey. I could imagine how much more overwhelming his eyes would be.**

**"Do you need to be excused, too, Edward?" Ms. Cope fluttered. Why couldn't I do that?**

**"No, I have Mrs. Goff, she won't mind."**

**"Okay, it's all taken care of. You feel better, Bella," she called to me. I nodded weakly, hamming it up just a bit.**

"You're a horrible actor, by the way." Edward laughed.

"Sorry," Bella sighed. Edward chuckled.

**"Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you again?" With his back to the receptionist, his expression became sarcastic.**

**"I'll walk."**

**I stood carefully, and I was still fine. He held the door for me, his smile polite but his eyes mocking. I walked out into the cold, fine mist that had just begun to fall. It felt nice — the first time I'd enjoyed the constant moisture falling out of the sky — as it washed my face clean of the sticky perspiration.**

**"Thanks," I said as he followed me out. "It's almost worth getting sick to miss Gym."**

**"Anytime." He was staring straight forward, squinting into the rain.**

**"So are you going? This Saturday, I mean?" **

"Awww," Alice sighed.

**I was hoping he would, though it seemed unlikely. I couldn't picture him loading up to carpool with the rest of the kids from school; he didn't belong in the same world. But just hoping that he might gave me the first twinge of enthusiasm I'd felt for the outing.**

**"Where are you all going, exactly?" He was still looking ahead, expressionless.**

**"Down to La Push, to First Beach." **

**I studied his face, trying to read it. His eyes seemed to narrow infinitesimally.**

**He glanced down at me from the corner of his eye, smiling wryly. "I really don't think I was invited."**

**I sighed. "I just invited you."**

**"Let's you and I not push poor Mike any further this week. We don't want him to snap." His eyes danced; he was enjoying the idea more than he should.**

**"Mike-schmike." I muttered, preoccupied by the way he'd said "you and I." I liked it more than I should.**

"Awww!" Alice and Esme cooed, smiling brightly at the adorable couple.

**We were near the parking lot now. I veered left, toward my truck. Something caught my jacket, yanking me back.**

**"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, outraged. He was gripping a fistful of my jacket in one hand.**

**I was confused. "I'm going home."**

**"Didn't you hear me promise to take you safely home? Do you think I'm going to let you drive in your condition?" His voice was still indignant.**

**"What condition? And what about my truck?" I complained.**

**"I'll have Alice drop it off after school." He was towing me toward his car now, pulling me by my jacket.**

"Edward Cullen!" Esme scolded.

**It was all I could do to keep from falling backward. He'd probably just drag me along anyway if I did.**

**"Let go!" I insisted. He ignored me. I staggered along sideways across the wet sidewalk until we reached the Volvo. Then he finally freed me — I stumbled against the passenger door.**

**"You are so pushy!" I grumbled.**

Emmett laughed.

**"It's open," was all he responded. He got in the driver's side.**

**"I am perfectly capable of driving myself home!" I stood by the car, fuming. It was raining harder now, and I'd never put my hood up, so my hair was dripping down my back.**

**He lowered the automatic window and leaned toward me across the seat. "Get in, Bella."**

**I didn't answer. I was mentally calculating my chances of reaching the truck before he could catch me. **

"Good luck!" Emmett laughed.

**I had to admit, they weren't good.**

**"I'll just drag you back," he threatened, guessing my plan.**

**I tried to maintain what dignity I could as I got into his car. I wasn't very successful — I looked like a half-drowned cat and my boots squeaked.**

**"This is completely unnecessary," I said stiffly.**

**He didn't answer. He fiddled with the controls, turning the heater up and the music down. As he pulled out of the parking lot, I was preparing to give him the silent treatment — my face in full pout mode — but then I recognized the music playing, and my curiosity got the better of my intentions.**

**"Clair de Lune?" I asked, surprised.**

**"You know Debussy?" He sounded surprised, too.**

**"Not well," I admitted. "My mother plays a lot of classical music around the house — I only know my favorites."**

**"It's one of my favorites, too." He stared out through the rain, lost in thought.**

"Aw—" Alice started.

"Don't. Even." Edward sighed, interrupting her.

**I listened to the music, relaxing against the light gray leather seat. It was impossible not to respond to the familiar, soothing melody. The rain blurred everything outside the window into gray and green smudges. I began to realize we were driving very fast; the car moved so steadily, so evenly, though, I didn't feel the speed. Only the town flashing by gave it away.**

**"What is your mother like?" he asked me suddenly.**

**I glanced over to see him studying me with curious eyes.**

**"She looks a lot like me, but she's prettier," I said. **

"She's so not prettier Bella. You need a confidence boost!" Alice laughed.

"Right?" Edward sighed.

**He raised his eyebrows. **

**"I have too much Charlie in me. She's more outgoing than I am, and braver. She's irresponsible and slightly eccentric, and she's a very unpredictable cook. She's my best friend." I stopped. Talking about her was making me depressed.**

**"How old are you, Bella?" His voice sounded frustrated for some reason I couldn't imagine. He'd stopped the car, and I realized we were at Charlie's house already. The rain was so heavy that I could barely see the house at all. It was like the car was submerged under a river.**

**"I'm seventeen," I responded, a little confused.**

**"You don't seem seventeen."**

**His tone was reproachful; it made me laugh.**

**"What?" he asked, curious again.**

**"My mom always says I was born thirty-five years old and that I get more middle-aged every year." I laughed, and then sighed. "Well, someone has to be the adult." I paused for a second. "You don't seem much like a junior in high school yourself," I noted.**

"Technically, I'm not." He laughed.

**He made a face and changed the subject.**

**"So why did your mother marry Phil?"**

**I was surprised he would remember the name; I'd mentioned it just once, almost two months ago. It took me a moment to answer.**

**"My mother… she's very young for her age. I think Phil makes her feel even younger. At any rate, she's crazy about him." I shook my head. The attraction was a mystery to me.**

**"Do you approve?" he asked.**

**"Does it matter?" I countered. "I want her to be happy… and he is who she wants."**

"That's very sweet, Bella." Esme smiled. Bella smiled back at her.

**"That's very generous… I wonder," he mused.**

**"What?"**

**"Would she extend the same courtesy to you, do you think? No matter who your choice was?" He was suddenly intent, his eyes searching mine.**

**"I-I think so," I stuttered. "But she's the parent, after all. It's a little bit different."**

**"No one too scary then," he teased.**

**I grinned in response. "What do you mean by scary? Multiple facial piercings and extensive tattoos?"**

**"That's one definition, I suppose."**

**"What's your definition?"**

"How about 'scary, blood-thirsty, vampire'?" Emmett laughed.

**But he ignored my question and asked me another. "Do you think that I could be scary?" He raised one eyebrow, and the faint trace of a smile lightened his face.**

**I thought for a moment, wondering whether the truth or a lie would go over better. I decided to go with the truth. "Hmmm… I think you could be, if you wanted to."**

**"Are you frightened of me now?" The smile vanished, and his heavenly face was suddenly serious.**

**"No." But I answered too quickly. The smile returned.**

Esme smiled.

**"So, now are you going to tell me about your family?" I asked to distract him. "It's got to be a much more interesting story than mine."**

**He was instantly cautious. "What do you want to know?"**

**"The Cullens adopted you?" I verified.**

**"Yes."**

**I hesitated for a moment. "What happened to your parents?"**

**"They died many years ago." His tone was matter-of-fact.**

**"I'm sorry," I mumbled.**

"Why did you apologize?" Emmett asked.

"Because I didn't know if asking about his parents would upset him…" Bella said, in a voice that made it clear that it should be obvious.

"…Oh," Emmett said.

**"I don't really remember them that clearly. Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for a long time now."**

**"And you love them." It wasn't a question. It was obvious in the way he spoke of them.**

Carlisle and Esme beamed at him. Edward looked as if he would blush if he could.

**"Yes." He smiled. "I couldn't imagine two better people."**

**"You're very lucky."**

**"I know I am."**

**"And your brother and sister?"**

**He glanced at the clock on the dashboard.**

**"My brother and sister, and Jasper and Rosalie for that matter, are going to be quite upset if they have to stand in the rain waiting for me."**

**"Oh, sorry, I guess you have to go." I didn't want to get out of the car.**

**"And you probably want your truck back before Chief Swan gets home, so you don't have to tell him about the Biology incident." He grinned at me.**

**"I'm sure he's already heard. There are no secrets in Forks." I sighed.**

**He laughed, and there was an edge to his laughter.**

"Thinking about the one big secret, no doubt." Alice laughed.

**"Have fun at the beach… good weather for sunbathing." He glanced out at the sheeting rain.**

**"Won't I see you tomorrow?"**

**"No. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early."**

**"What are you going to do?" A friend could ask that, right? I hoped the disappointment wasn't too apparent in my voice.**

"It was," Edward laughed.

"Great," Bella sighed. Edward chuckled and kissed her quickly.

**"We're going to be hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier."**

**I remembered Charlie had said the Cullens went camping frequently.**

**"Oh, well, have fun." I tried to sound enthusiastic. I don't think I fooled him, though. A smile was playing around the edges of his lips.**

**"Will you do something for me this weekend?" He turned to look me straight in the face, utilizing the full power of his burning gold eyes.**

**I nodded helplessly.**

**"Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet. So… try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?" He smiled crookedly.**

**The helplessness had faded as he spoke. I glared at him.**

Emmett and Jasper laughed.

**"I'll see what I can do," I snapped as I jumped out into the rain. I slammed the door behind me with excessive force.**

**He was still smiling as he drove away.**

"You two are so cute together," Alice sighed.

Bella blushed. "Next chapter…" She sighed, avoiding the embarrassing comment.

Edward chuckled, as Bella read the next chapter title.

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**REVIEW!!!!**


	8. NEW FF ACCOUNT! MUST READ!

Hey everyone!

Okay, so I changed my email for FanFiction, and now it absolutely WILL NOT send me ANY emails ):

Sooooo, I made a new account, and I will be updating my story 'Bella's Home Video's' and prolly also 'A Book Of Truth' on that account. I will not be updating right away, but soon.

My pen name for it is: miseryxparade

So go to that page and subscribe and what not so you know when I update. I will no longer use that account so if you want to contact me, go to my other page. Thanks to all!

I'll update soon!


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